Comments (0) Best Latin American Restaurant - 2012
Villa Peru
Whether it was by slim chance or sheer accident that chef Walter Salazar came to Tempe from Tucson last year to take over ownership of Villa Peru just as the world's obsession with Peruvian cuisine was peaking, the Valley's lucky to have him. Along with members of his family, all originally from Lima, Salazar serves up a menu based on traditional Peruvian cuisine in a cozy, carpeted room with the occasional travel video of Peru running on a flatscreen TV. The restaurant's absence of liquor means an absence of pisco, the grape brandy and national drink of Peru, to accompany the fare, but dishes of Salazar's popular ceviche, the cold potato appetizer causa de langostinos, the Peruvian-style comfort food known as chili chicken or ají de gallina, and the exotic taste of lucuma ice cream frequently make their way out of the kitchen and onto tables anyway, keeping the obsession alive and our taste buds tingling.
