I
’ve gone deep into the Lima buzz
in Barranco. Crowds pack tightly
around tables at Isolina, arguably the
neighbourhood’s top dining spot (among too
many contenders), celebrated for sublime
tastes that come from working-man recipes,
haute technique and impeccable, locally
sourced ingredients.
The packed dining room embodies a Lima
revival that has transformed a capital city
once dismissed (even by some residents) as
dusty, early-to-bed and provincial. Acclaim
for Lima’s influential chefs and adventurous
food scene is now legion. And perhaps that
energy — creativity, newfound civic pride
— has kicked off a wider cultural renaissance
that today makes Lima one of the Americas’
edgiest, most compelling cities.
Wannabe scenesters, crowding the
door, jockey for hostess attention.
Everyone — from scruffy-bearded,
uncombed kids to imposing señoras
in neoindigenous finery, and silver-fox
gents with shaggy manes wearing poet-
worthy turtlenecks — is immersed in
deep conversation, emphatic gestures
flying. The restaurant’s soft woods and dim
lights do little to abate the roar. Sidelined
to a bar stool (party of one; no reservation)
but with a commanding view of the pageant,
I feel the pulse of a great Latin American
city; a place where human connections
are paramount and chit-chat morphs into
something deeper and richer.
“For years, people thought Lima was the
place to change planes for Cuzco,” quips
manager Rafael Parra over an early-morning
coffee in the misty, romantic garden at Casa
República Barranco hotel. “But the city has
started to take pride in what it is; now we
need people to come.” The busy yet tranquil
hostelry (as well as plush rival Hotel B, on the
same ceremonious yet shabby-genteel street)
is another part of the Barranco buzz: people
are restoring grand, historic structures
and filling them with edgy, eye-catching
artworks, kicky boutiques and galleries, plus
spectacular dining rooms.
The neighbourhood lies 7.5 miles south
of the city centre, clinging to Pacific cliffs
on the far side of upper-class San Isidro
and Miraflores. In previous decades, those
districts constituted most Lima visitors’
entire theatre of action. But recent years have
seen Barranco — originally a seaside resort
for the capital’s best families — take on a key
role in a city that’s now stirring.
The MAC Lima contemporary art
museum — the district’s cultural gateway,
on Avenida Miguel Grau — beckons. Beyond
walls given over to striking, colourful murals,
I duck into loft-like galleries and high-
impact exhibits that often result in some
head scratching; here, at what is a forum for
many of the hemisphere’s most avant-garde
proposals, it’s dialogue, as well as controversy,
that’s being provoked. A few blocks in,
Barranco’s walkable, tree-lined streets and
quaint town plaza reach an urban zenith,
with families, old folks and newly minted
bohemians crowding onto sidewalks to see
friends, watch the ocean, smooch, or stop
for a drink. A hop down Avenida San Martín
toward Chorrillos leads to more of the city’s
most fascinating art spaces, including the
historic, sacred collection at the Pedro de
Osma Museum, and high-gloss photography
on view at MATE - Museo Mario Testino. The
mix is chic, but real, alive and authentic — not
too posh, just yet.
“We came here to be artists,” says flower-
seller Gabriela Sánchez Morbeli, as she
assembles a pretty, affordable bouquet. “The
only work in our pueblo was to be a cop.”
Gabriela reached Lima and now she and her
grown-up children are singer-songwriters,
picking up gigs. “Here we have freedom to be
who we are,” she says.Andean expression // “There’s a particular style that’s very
Peru that you don’t see anywhere else ... When you mix Incan
minimalism with the heavy, ornate Spanish baroque, it’s very
interesting.” Mario Testino
FROM TOP: Street scene in
Barranco, a neighbourhood that’s
home to an increasing number of
boutiques and galleries; the garden
restaurant at Larco Museum
PREVIOUS PAGES: Setting the scene
for al fresco terrace dining at a cafe
in Barranco114 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
LIMA