When Peru-born chef Alejandro Saravia opened his contemporary Peruvian restaurant Morena in Sydney’s Surry Hills in the early 2010s, “the market wasn’t ready for it”, he tells Good Food, and it closed a few years later. It was before its time, he figures.

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In the years since, as more Australians have travelled around Latin America, soaking up the many cultures and cuisines – and its restaurants have garnered global acclaim – the market has changed.

His reincarnation of Morena, which opened in Sydney’s Martin Place this April, gained a hat. And now he’s readying its Melbourne counterparts, the neighbouring Morena Restaurant and Morena Barra, to open in the 80 Collins precinct next week.

Saravia – executive chef at Farmer’s Daughters and Victoria by Farmer’s Daughters, and formerly of Peruvian restaurant Pastuso – wants to set a new standard for Latin American food in Australia, expanding diners’ minds and paving the way for other chefs.

At his split-level Morena Restaurant, the focus will be on Latin American ingredients served in creative ways that represent the various cultures of the region. “We’re not serving traditional dishes, or dishes inspired by traditional dishes,” Saravia explains.

The flavour-bomb mole negro he’s been ageing for years is served with suckling goat, a morita-chilli salsa and nasturtium. Another dish stars ullucus (an Andean tuber similar to a potato) two ways: as a creamy smoked puree, and preserved in oil.

Drinks also represent Peru, with Cusquena lager on offer as well as plenty of pisco, on tasting flights or in cocktails, such as the signature sour with blood-orange syrup and oloroso sherry. There’s also a vibrant purple non-alcoholic option based on chicha morada, a drink made by boiling Peruvian purple corn with pineapple skins and cinnamon.

“We’re not serving traditional dishes, or dishes inspired by traditional dishes.”

Alejandro Saravia

The restaurant’s first floor has cobblestones underfoot and a chef’s table wrapped around the fire-powered open kitchen. Curved finishes, including a slinky staircase leading up to the main dining room on the second floor, add elegance.

Next door, the less formal, more freewheeling Morena Barra is all rustic timber and hessian finishes, with fans spinning overhead channelling Latin American cantinas.

Ceviche is a focal point. The menu will show how the dish varies between countries, so you might start with a traditional Peruvian version made with tiger’s milk (a spicy, citrus-based marinade), then try a Colombian-inspired ceviche of king prawns cured in a briny “clamato” sauce, made of blended tomatoes and clams.

Other snacks include Abrolhos Islands scallops with aji-amarillo-chilli butter, parmesan cream and lime; and charcoal-fired ox tongue anticuchos (Peruvian skewers).

Morena Restaurant and Morena Barra will open on Monday, September 2. Bookings are open now.

Morena Restaurant is open Mon-Sat noon-3pm, 5.30pm-late; Morena Barra is open Mon-Sat noon-late

71 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, morenarestaurant.com.au/melbourne