Lima (restaurant)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Gabriel Gonzalez, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Virgilio Martínez Véliz |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Key people | Virgilio Martínez Véliz (chef patron), Bunmi Okolosi (maître d'hôtel), Roberto Ortiz (head chef) |
| Products | Peruvian cuisine |
| Website | www |
Lima is a restaurant situated in London that focuses on Peruvian cuisine, under the direction of chef patron Virgilio Martínez Véliz. In 2014, it was awarded a Michelin star, becoming the first Peruvian establishment in Europe to receive this distinction.
Description
The restaurant is co-owned by Gabriel and Jose Luis Gonzalez together with chef Virgilio Martínez Véliz, blending culinary skill with effective business leadership. The front-of-house operations are overseen by maître d'hôtel Bunmi Okolosi, formerly associated with Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, while Roberto Ortiz holds the position of head chef under the guidance of Martínez Véliz. Additionally, Martínez Véliz heads Central Restaurante in Lima, Peru, which was ranked fifth in the 2017 edition of The World's 50 Best Restaurants.
Erik Munro designed Lima’s interior, characterized by a beige color scheme and a distinctive mural. The compact and narrow layout employs mirrors to create an illusion of spaciousness and features an open kitchen visible to guests. The lighting design incorporates natural light from a skylight at the back, complemented by candles and industrial-style lamps to establish a cozy ambiance.
Reception
Shortly after its launch in July 2012, Fay Maschler reviewed Lima for the London Evening Standard, commending the vivid presentation of dishes and singling out the octopus served with quinoa, shiso, and botija olives as an excellent example of creative octopus preparation. While she found the lamb shoulder somewhat overdone, she valued its accompaniments and awarded the restaurant four out of five stars. In September 2012, John Walsh from The Independent also praised the octopus as "densely tasty," describing the lamb shoulder as "amazingly soft" paired with poached grapes on black quinoa, giving four out of five for cuisine and three out of five for atmosphere and service.
In October 2012, Time Out lauded the suckling pig accompanied by rustic corn mash but considered the dulce de leche ice cream overly complex due to beetroot emulsion and pieces of maca root. Matthew Norman of The Daily Telegraph in September 2013 referred to Lima as "a ridiculously perfect amalgam of taste and aesthetics," praising the sea bream ceviche as a "thrillingly intense marvel" and identifying the beef pachamanca crusted with huacatay as his preferred dish, granting a flawless five out of five rating.
Lima’s reception of a Michelin star in the 2014 Michelin Guide marked a milestone as the inaugural Michelin star awarded to a Peruvian restaurant in Europe. Founder Gonzalez described this recognition as both "a great surprise" and "a stamp of credibility for Peruvian food." The National Restaurant Awards recognized Lima as a "restaurant to watch" in 2013 before placing it at number 68 among UK restaurants in 2014.