Paiche - Voted Best Restaurant In The United States

By Pete Allman

Paiche, the Peruvian Izakaya Cuisine has been voted "Best New Restaurant in the United States" by Esquire. Located in Marina del Rey, this busy eatery is the vision of Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate.

Chef Zarate has brought some unique flavors to Southern, California. He has appeared on many shows on The Food Network and is consistently perfecting his menu for his various restaurants. It's understandable why he was also voted "Best New Chef In America" by Food and Wine Magazine.

I invited Tom Hallick a former star of The Young and Restless who played Brad Garret for many years, along with many starring roles in films and episodic television. Tom brought his wife, Jin Jiang, who is a concert violinist with Andrea Bucelli, Both have traveled the world over and know the quality of fine dining.

Piache was designed by Chef Zarate. The pillars of the restaurant resemble fish fins, decorated in blue with contemporary seating and an open kitchen. On any given night, there's a full house of patrons of all cultures, who are just waiting to chow down some of the most delicious dishes they've ever tasted. Now let's begin our dining journey by introducing Cort Zimmerman, the General Manager and Megan, his assistant manager. Both greeted my party and recommended a tasting that would send us floating out of the restaurant at the end of the evening.

Tuna Tartar with caviar and a soy ceviche dressing with wonton chips and shrimp dumplings with soy-lime sauce dressing with spicy rocotto infused oil with seasoned vegetables was an uplifting surprise. "This is so good, it's the best gourmet I've tasted with this caliber food," stated Hallick. Ah but there's more to the tasting. The ceviche's, sashimi style were also amazing. The Yellow Tail and Albacore has a sweet lemony taste, that is the best taste to my recollection continuing with the tastings, there's the Wagu Beef which is seasoned with Parmesan, saiha in chi oil, with a soy dressing with garlic.

The Kampachi, with ricotto oil, yuza onion, garlic dressing on a Himalayan rock salt, was another excellent dish.

Other items included Crispy tuna tacu tacu , which consist of spicy tuna with rocoto aioli. For the adventurous palate I would highly recommend The Niman Ranch Pork Belly, prepared with aji Amarillo butternut squash puree and pomegranate salsa criolla over the pork crackling.

What about something that's a bit more gamey? There's Saltado De Quail, a sautéed quail with five spices, and rosemary dressing over the quail.

Seafood lovers on the other hand will definitely enjoy the Chaufa De Langosta, lobster and mixed seafood with fried rice and the Saltado De Camarones, which is a sautéed shrimp with saltado sauce and homemade pasta.

Before we tell you about the deserts, we must also recommend the Pacu Ribs, which are Amazonian fish ribs in a anticucho lime miso with zapallo puree. For simplicity there's the Prime Short Ribs with baroque sauce.

Those with a hearty appetite may want to order the Verduras, side dishes of Spinach, Cauliflower, Carrots, Peewee Potato or Haricot Vert.

"In China, we have not tasted cuisine so unique," stated Jiang.

There's no question that there's always a little room for desert. The green tea coconut cake and the Molten Chocolate cake were just as delightful for ending our culinary journey. A little cappuccino and it's time to retire.

Paiche is just off of Lincoln Blvd. on 13488 Maxella Ave in Marina del Rey. For reservations call [310] 893-6100.

Celebrity Scene News awards 5 stars to an exquisite evening of superb cuisine, with excellent service.