Central Restaurante
Central has been named the best restaurant in Latin America for 3 consecutive years (2014, 2015, and 2016) and ranked 2nd in 2017, and again at number 1 in 2022. It is also ranked among the World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking 4th in the world in 2015 and 2016, 5th in 2017, 6th in 2018, and 2nd in 2022.
In 2023, it earned the No. 1 spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking and currently holds the title as Best restaurant in the world.
Cuisine
The cuisine at Central is Contemporary Peruvian, and founder Virgilio Martínez Véliz has attempted to redefine Peruvian cuisine by introducing little-known indigenous ingredients from Peru's coastal region, the Andes highlands, and the Amazon rainforest. Examples of such ingredients include kushuru (cushuro), an edible cyanobacteria harvested in high-altitude wetlands; arracacha, a root vegetable from the Andes; and arapaima, a freshwater fish found in the Amazon River. Chef and restaurant commentator Geeta Bansal describes the cuisine as "fresh, and contemporary with beautiful plates."
Staff
Owner and founder Virgilio Martínez Véliz formerly worked at restaurants such as Lutèce (New York City); Can Fabes (Sant Celoni); and served as executive chef at Astrid & Gastón in both Bogotá and Madrid. The Chef de cuisine is Pía León, wife of Martínez Véliz. The two worked together for two years before marrying in Lima on May 4, 2013. The restaurant's wine director is American-born Gregory Thomas Smith.
Legal status
Since its opening, Central restaurant has been illegally located in an area zoned residential. In 2009, Manuel Masías Oyanguren, the mayor of Mirafores, closed the restaurant and stated that it wouldn't open again, enforcing the zoning approved since 2006. The restaurant continued to operate until 2010, when it finally closed. Later in the same year, Central opened again thanks to a court order. That court order was later cancelled, but Central presented an appeal and is waiting for the decision. Since then, Central has moved districts to Barranco.