10 must-try restaurants redefining South American cuisine
Peru, Argentina, Chile and Brazil are all home to eateries considered to be some of the greatest in the world. We have found the must-try venues for your next trip.
Peru, Argentina, Chile and Brazil are all home to restaurants considered to be some of the best in the world. We have found the must-try eateries for your next trip.
1. Puqio, Colca Canyon, Peru
South America has become a bright spot on the global food map thanks to the rise of culinary capitals such as Lima, which has had restaurants take the No. 1 spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list in the past few years. Sadly, Peru’s regional cuisines get far less attention. Explore the spicier gastronomy of the nation’s second-largest city, Arequipa, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, at the plush safari-style tented camp of Puqio, which lies three hours north of downtown Arequipa in the pastoral Colca Canyon. This new food-focused luxury lodge uses fire, clay ovens and volcanic stones to prepare five-course degustation menus with themes such as “a homage to quinoa” or “altiplano lake fish”; they’re nothing like what you’ll find in Lima. All meals are sourced either from the onsite garden (which boasts 10 potato varieties) or nearby farms, which spill down the canyon on 7th-century pre-Inca terraces.
2. Cora, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Stylish but casual, Cora lies on the rooftop of a historic six-floor building in the newly hip Vila Buarque neighbourhood. Down below, the elevated highway Minhocao transforms on evenings and weekends into a High Line-esque urban park, snaking off toward skyscrapers such as the wiggling Oscar Niemeyer-designed Edifício Copan. This intimate, veggie-forward eatery has become the hottest reservation in Sao Paulo. Indigenous Jujeno chef Pablo Inca changes the market-based menu with the seasons, but always expect fresh shareable plates such as the sashimi-style yellowtail with cashew juice and chestnut paste, or lightly fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, apricot and pistachio. The wine menu is no less playful, even featuring some bottles from Brazil’s emerging Serra Gaucha wine region.
3. Popular Cocina Boliviana, La Paz, Bolivia
Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Bolivia’s de facto capital of La Paz. Nowhere does a finer version than Popular Cocina Boliviana, where a three-course meal is just 89 bolivianos ($20). Chefs here put an upmarket twist on the classic Bolivian lunch stall, offering dishes such as braised Amazonian paiche (a white river fish) or tucumana-style empanadas filled with jerked llama meat. The plates arriving at the table are as colourful as the textiles worn by the Indigenous Aymara women walking around outside. Popular Cocina Boliviana epitomises the culinary prowess now captivating visitors to this high-altitude city. Many credit Claus Meyer, co-founder of Copenhagen’s groundbreaking Noma, for spurring a culinary Renaissance after he chose La Paz for his surprise second restaurant, Gustu, in 2013.
4. Vina Vik, Cachapoal Valley, Chile
There are wineries, and then there is Vina Vik, a monumental opus crafted by renowned Chilean architect Smiljan Radic two hours by road south of Santiago in the Cachapoal Valley. Vik is the brainchild of Norwegian billionaire Alexander Vik and his American wife, Carrie, who scoured the planet two decades ago for a valley where they could make some of the world’s finest Bordeaux-style wines. Bottles of Vik now sell at prices previously unheard of for Chilean wines, while the winery itself is currently No. 3 on the World’s Best Vineyards list. Visitors can stay in a hilltop hotel inspired by the works of architect Frank Gehry and sculptor Richard Serra. Then, sample wines in a subterranean cellar before dining in two restaurants filled with millions of dollars worth of Latin American art. Ingredients for the farm-to-table plates come from organic gardens alongside the vines.
5. Restaurante Leo, Bogota, Colombia
Take a culinary journey through Colombia’s diverse ecosystems – from the Andean shrublands to the lowland savannahs – on an eight- or 12-course tasting menu at Restaurante Leo. Located in Bogota’s upmarket Zona G neighbourhood, it’s become a destination restaurant for those who love not only the art of food, but its anthropological origins. The ever-changing menu is the result of vast research and experimentation conducted by Leonor Espinosa, who won the title of The World’s Best Female Chef in 2022. Intriguing ingredients include the oil of the Amazonian coquindo seed or the tart fruit copoazu, which is related to cacao. When you’re finished, head upstairs to La Sala de Laura for avant-garde cocktails crafted from house-made spirits. Each is infused with local botanicals, including coca leaves.
6. Parador la Huella, Jose Ignacio, Uruguay
The Uruguayan beach resort of Jose Ignacio is one of the ritziest enclaves in South America; Parador la Huella is its choicest address. Linen-clad power players from neighbouring Brazil and Argentina flock here each summer to dine on fire-grilled octopus or sea bass. La Huella, which means the footprint, is barefoot luxury at its finest, with a golden crescent of sand curving along a calm bay just steps away. Be sure to wash down your meal with wines from the neighbouring region of Garzon, which is known for its fresh and acidic Albarinos and plummy, deep-hued Tannats. Two wineries in particular, Bodega Garzon and Bodega Oceanica, make for excellent day trips following mornings at the beach.
7. Aqua Nera, Iquitos, Peru
River cruises aren’t traditionally known as the height of haute cuisine – particularly when they take place in a location as remote as the Amazon Rainforest. Yet Aqua Expeditions saw an opportunity to show visitors not only the jungle’s fascinating wildlife (including three-toed sloths and pink river dolphins) but the riches hidden in its steamy midst. Peruvian chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino is a pioneer in rainforest-to-table gastronomy, and brings his expertise to the menus aboard Aqua Nera, which sails the Amazon River from Iquitos, Peru, on journeys of between three and seven nights. Travel with the chef himself on select outings (typically twice a year) to learn how to make ceviche and whip up cocktails with Amazonian fruits.
8. Zazu, Quito, Ecuador
Quito has quietly emerged in recent years as one of South America’s most exciting culinary capitals. Yet Zazu, which has been around for nearly two decades, remains at the top of the pack with its contemporary take on Latin American fare. The sleek and elegant Relais & Chateaux property, helmed by chef Wilson Alpala, builds on Ecuadorean staples like oxtail and guinea pig, serving the latter three ways (confit, in a ravioli, and atop a corn tortilla) on a single plate. The dish will have you looking at this common house pet in an entirely new light. Desserts are equally playful, including a lifelike cacao pod made from chocolate mousse. The real pleasure of dining here is that each dish is a work of art.
9. SB Winemaker’s House, Mendoza, Argentina
This pioneering seven-suite hotel from one of Argentina’s leading winemakers, Susana Balbo, offers one of the most exciting culinary programs on the continent. Guests can enjoy a 14-course dinner at chef Flavia Amad’s restaurant, La Vida, which comes paired with Balbo’s award-winning wines. There are also tours of Mendoza farms, cooking classes with top chefs, vintage wine tastings, picnics at stately chateaux, wine-blending courses, and high tea with bubbles. Of course, this is all to fill the time between wine tasting at neighbouring vineyards in the valley, where Malbec is the regional specialty. A second property, SB Mountain Eco Lodge & Spa, will open this year in the nearby Uco Valley.
10. 99 Restaurante, Santiago, Chile
Chef Kurt Schmidt’s wildly innovative 99 Restaurante is so much more than a just an eatery. When it reopened in 2024 after a four-year hiatus, it did so with an entirely new mission to explore the regional foodways of Chile’s myriad agricultural valleys, which cut across this thin nation from the Andes to the Pacific. Schmidt delves into one valley at a time, changing the menu roughly every six months. Its inaugural tasting menu explores the little-known cuisine of the seemingly lifeless Atacama Desert, with products such as donkey sausage and goat cheese ice cream sourced from the remote Huasco Valley (a rare sliver of green in the otherwise barren landscape). Even the sommelier, Rocio Alvarado, travelled to the area to partner with little-known vineyards on unique house wines. Next up for 99 is the Aconcagua Valley, about an hour north of Santiago, where its namesake river flows down from the tallest mountain in the Americas.
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