Gaston Acurio’s first New York restaurant, the 2 year old branch of La Mar Cebicheria, has closed. Don’t fret though. There’s already talk of moving the restaurant to another Manhattan location, possibly in Chelsea.

Nikkei cuisine, a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian foods that began in Lima, is going to become major international news this year. While this type of cuisine will likely get considerable more attention this year in Lima as Maido’s Mitsuharu Tsumura completes his book on Nikkei cuisine and Hajime Kasuga’s star continues to rise, two major Nikkei restaurants will open in 2013 outside of Peru.

I have probably visited more Peruvian restaurants outside of Peru than anyone on planet earth (it’s debatable, but maybe inside of Peru too). In most cases I am left disappointed. The primary reason is the lack of access to high quality ingredients, primarily aji chiles, as well as proper substitutions for limes and other fruits, though at times, the entire concepts may seems off. That is not the case at Ricardo Zarate’s Mo-chica in Los Angeles.

Peruvian Food & restaurant news fot the Summer of 2012: the Peru Sabe documentary premier, the opening of Raymi in NYC, La MarNYC opens a patio, Ricardo Zarate moves Mo-chica in LA, Mistura chnages locations, and Virgillio Martinez opens Lima London in the UK