The path into the American culinary mainstream has two entrances. Some start upscale and infuse downwards, while others begin in humble cafes and climb to the higher price echelons. Sushi got its start in the USA as an exotic and expensive treat, but is now available in fast food versions and at any substantial grocery store. Vietnamese came from the other direction, starting with lunch counters catering to immigrants in the ‘70s and gradually becoming available at every price range, including haute cuisine versions. It’s interesting to see how street foods become gourmet delights and vice versa.
Peruvian cuisine also arrived in the Los Angeles area in the late 1970s and was a niche item for a long time, almost unknown outside the immigrant community. The mix of European, Asian and indigenous ideas didn’t fit our stereotypes of Latin American cuisine, and it didn’t become popular until roast chicken restaurants led by the South Bay’s El Pollo Inka started adding Peruvian seafood dishes and stir-fries to its menu. Since then it has become better known and appreciated, and in the last few years high style versions have started popping up. Though the South Bay was home to one of the innovators, until recently the Beach Cities didn’t have much to offer when it came to date restaurant versions of this great cuisine.
That changed when Kotosh opened in a small space on Highland just north of Rosecrans. This offshoot of a popular Lomita restaurant is different from the original, which is a modest restaurant with a huge menu. (Kotosh is an archaeological site near Huanuco, Peru).
The décor in Manhattan Beach is contemporary cool, and this may be the only Peruvian restaurant in greater Los Angeles with no pictures of llamas or Macchu Picchu. If you looked at a picture of the place and had to guess what they served, you’d probably start with some sort of Asian fusion. That wouldn’t be completely off base, because Peruvian cuisine was shaped by ideas brought by Chinese railroad workers and Japanese terrace farmers who arrived in the nineteenth century. The Japanese influence is prominent at Kotosh, which offers bento box combinations and has an extensive menu of Peruvian-style fusion sushi. The menu in Manhattan Beach is considerably smaller than at the original, but there is still enough variety that everyone is likely to find something interesting.
I had a bento on my first visit for lunch, and it was a good way of sampling Kotosh’s offerings. You get miso soup as a starter, followed by the divided box with rice, green salad, your choice of three sushi rolls, a potato dish, and a meat or tofu selection. The salad and sushi rolls are something you might get in any Japanese restaurant, the other items aren’t. The starches are potato in Peruvian cheese sauce, a potato and egg salad called “Huevo a la Rusa,” or a vegan “causa rellena.” That last item is a type of layered potato casserole, and it’s what I selected. The meats are Japanese-style fried chicken or a Peruvian-style vegetable stir-fry offered with your choice of beef, chicken, or tofu added.
As you might expect from that list, there isn’t a whole lot of any one thing, yet it’s still plenty of food. The sushi and salad were the standard items well executed, with a mild, creamy miso dressing enlivening the greens. The causa was two layers of cold potato slices with a vegetable patty in between and some spicy sauce on top, which is actually more interesting than it sounds. I prefer it with the traditional stuffing of tuna or minced chicken, but would have this again. As for the stir-fry, it’s like any simple Chinese stir-fry, but with French fries mixed in. The beef had a little smokiness from wok-searing, a dash of spices and herbs, and a bit of sharpness from the lightly fried onion, but that’s all. The focus is on natural flavors, and if you want to heat things up you can add some of the red pepper or green garlic sauce that are provided.
At fifteen bucks for that ample lunch, Kotosh was a bargain. I rounded up some family members and took them there for dinner a few days later. We decided to share a few appetizers and ordered the papa Huancaina (potatoes in cheese sauce), tofu salad, mixed tempura, and yellowtail tiradito, a variant of ceviche. The difference is that the raw fish for tiradito is marinated only briefly in a gingery, slightly peppery citrus sauce, while ceviche is aged overnight, which changes the texture. It’s a true meeting between Peruvian and Japanese ideas, with the citrus and distinctive flavor of Peruvian chili peppers accenting the fish in a way unlike anything else. Several types of fish are offered as tiradito or you can get a sampler. I plan on trying them all.
Papas Huancaina is an iconic Peruvian starter, potatoes in a cheese sauce that is usually tangy with a shot of hot pepper, but the version here was oddly bland. The traditional cheese for this sauce is similar to a Mexican queso fresco, creamy and rich without much flavor, and it needs some garlic and chile for the dish to really shine. A healthy dollop of the green chile sauce helps right the flavor balance, so add the sauce to your taste.
We had ordered the tofu salad as a cooling contrast to the expected spiciness of the other two dishes, but enjoyed it even though our other starters were mild. It was the same vegetable salad with creamy miso I had sampled at lunch with the addition of fresh tofu, and it earned the approval of everyone at the table. So did the order of mixed tempura, which had an exceptionally light and crisp batter.
For main courses we selected fried chicken cutlet with the basil spaghetti called tallarin verde, lomo saltado, and a bean and lentil dish called tacu-tacu topped with seafood. Like the bean and rice dishes that are part of peasant cuisine all over the Americas, the rice and lentil combination is a mild platform for more flavorful ingredients, in this case a mix of shrimp, scallops, and squid with tomatoes and onions. The sauce that tied this all together had a gentle balance of herbs, spices, and pepper, not dominating the seafood but enhancing it. It was a bit milder than the version served at other Peruvian restaurants around L.A., but that seems to be the flavor profile at Kotosh.
The chicken cutlet with basil spaghetti reflects another element of Peruvian cuisine, the impact of millions of Italians who moved to South America in the nineteenth century to escape the violent struggle for national unification. The overwhelming majority were from northern Italy, and they brought a taste for pesto sauce that became part of Peruvian cuisine. It uses slightly less oil than the European original and includes pureed spinach, which gives it a silky smoothness and natural vegetable flavor. Another thing that makes this dish Peruvian is that it is served with roasted potatoes, a combination of starches that is a bit unusual. The potato was first domesticated in the Andes, and after over eight thousand years of cultivation they will be found somewhere in any meal.
To complement our meal we had glasses of chicha, the Peruvian corn and fruit punch, and wine. The wine list here is rather unusual, listing varietals but no producers, and almost all of the wines are Peruvian. Peru has been making wine since the Spanish Colonial era, but only one native grape is listed, the Borgoña. That grape produces a semi-sweet red that is beloved in Peru but not particularly popular here, where we tend to like our reds dry. If you have an open mind you might try it, because it goes well with peppery flavors. We were less impressed by the Peruvian Cabernet, but liked the Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. Beer and sake are available for those who prefer it, or enjoy the chicha punch spiked with cinnamon and nutmeg.
A few desserts are offered, including Peruvian-style flan, shortbread sandwich cookies called alfajores, and ice cream flavored with the tropical fruit called lucuma. I recommend the ice cream and alfajores as a pairing. The cookies filled with dulce de leche go very well with the lucuma flavor, which is reminiscent of a mango with butterscotch accents. It’s a remarkable fruit, and I expect it to enter the culinary mainstream as chefs get creative with it.
To sum it up, the food at Kotosh has a Japanese subtlety rather than the exuberance of some other Peruvian restaurants. At $165 for four people with a beverage each, dinner at Kotosh is rather more expensive than their competitors in the area, but the service, environment, and presentation are far more refined. I wish the menu here had greater depth, but as they have only been open for a few months it may be that they are focusing on consistency. They’re on a good path now, and it will be interesting to see whether beach city residents embrace this evolving cuisine.
Kotosh is at 3713 Highland Avenue, #8, in Manhattan Beach. Open Tue.-Fri. 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. – 10 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., street parking or pay lot. Wine, beer, and sake served, corkage $10. Menu online at kotosh-restaurant.com. Reservations recommended. Phone 310-545-6421. B
