our new favorite place

We almost missed it entirely, but thanks to Rick's excellent driving skills and ability to make 90 degree turns at 20 mph, we were able to park in the front door!

I would like to point out, before talking about the food, that we learned about this place via Rick's mom. Since you haven't had the pleasure, I'll tell you something about her. She's frugal. So much so, that she gave a bag of rice to Rick that was purchased in 1995. That's right. 15 year old rice. Why did she still have it you ask? Because she doesn't throw anything out. She's not going to spend $5 on a new bag when she still has the one. So the fact that she was excited about "a new restaurant in Santa Rosa" was rather interesting.

So Michelle looked it up here, told us about it, and we decided to go. We walk inside and find 6 people in the place including the staff. This was great because we got so much attention from our server. The only thing known about peruvian food at this point was Ceviche, which we were all pretty excited about. Luckily for us Jose had time to walk us through the options on the menu. It was a small menu. I like that. Do a few things really well and call it a day.

Here's what we ordered.

Ahi Tuna Ceviche, Halibut Ceviche

Both of them were delicious. and looking at them now I see that my iPhone did not do them justice.

Deep fried, panko crusted, stuffed potato. It was good, but not our favorite.

For dessert, short bread cookies with dulce de leche in the center and covered in powdered sugar, and lacuma ice cream. Lacuma is a sub-tropical fruit native to Peru. We decided to order dessert it was because it had just come in the door of the restaurant via Luis. He is the Papa and one of the owners. He made a quick trip to the city for the ice cream and cookies.

These are the items we got for just being in the right place at the right time. One of the best things about a small family owned restaurant is having the chef prepare something that is delicious that he wants you to try because you've never had it.

The one on the left is grilled beef heart and purple potato. They were so tender and savory. They had such great flavor and were not too gamey. On the right was a purple corn pudding creme brule. Obviously is was delicious, as it is gone! It was a something he was trying out to see if they could offer it as a dessert. Yes, I think you can!

So we made friends with Jose our server and his brother, Pablo, the creator of all things delicious, and dad, Luis, cookie and ice cream retriever. It was a great night and a fun experience. Sazon Peruvian Cuisine. Check it out!