London’s ‘First Peruvian Bakery’ Will Open In Notting Hill Next Month

Next month, one of London’s leading Peruvian chef-restaurateurs, Martin Morales, will launch what is being dubbed London’s first Peruvian bakery. Andina Panaderia will open on Westbourne Grove alongside a new restaurant, Andina Picanteria. Each, Morales says, will “pay homage to the female Andean chefs who have inspired” he and his team since opening Ceviche (in 2012.) Both will open on Tuesday 8 May.

The bakery will be led by head pastry chef Ana Velasquez and will specialise in slow-ferment baking with traditional sweet and savoury pastries and breads alongside hot dishes, lunchtime salads and all-day brunch dishes to eat in or take away.

The shelves will be stacked with Peruvian breads, including:

• Andean black mint and sweet potato sourdough
• Delicately crusted traditional pan frances roll
• The challah-like chancay bread, a cinnamon-scented take on brioche

Sweets will include

• Pastel de Lúcuma: an Andean spin on the Portuguese custard tart
• Chicha morada muffin: a purple corn muffin with a moorish corn and almond centre

A selection Peruvian coffee and teas will also be available.

As well as being a new “home for Peruvian baking” in London, Andina Panaderia says it will also “shine a light on pottery and provide a space for leading London and Peruvian makers to retail their works through a series of month-long collaborations and talks.”

Ahead of the opening, and his first foray into west London-proper, Morales said: “I’ll never forget the first time I experienced the bakeries of the Andes. I was just six years old and after an eight-hour journey up through the mountains, we arrived at Santiago de Chuco, my gran’s village, to be greeted by the enticing aromas of fresh bread and pastries.

“My team and I have been travelling across the regions of the Andes meeting bakers, cooks, farmers and learning new recipes, techniques which we can’t wait to bring to London.”

Next door, the 40-cover Andina Picanteria will open. The kitchen there will be led by chef Luca Depalo, and is described as “an ode to the Peruvian picanterias,” — the family-run, roadside restaurants that act as “culinary hubs of the community across the eleven regions of the Peruvian Andes.”

The new menu comprises small plates such as the sivinche, “an ancient take on ceviche, made with yellowfin tuna, trout roe and popped kiwicha” and a purple corn tamal with choclo corn succotash and sweet kale pesto. Bigger dishes include Olluco potato locro, an authentic Andean-style stew of broad beans and roast pumpkin. Those will sit alongside “feasting dishes” like braised adobo pork leg and 80-day aged Hereford beef sirloin with red pepper and Amarillo chilli escabeche.

Raquel Oliveira, managing director of the group said: “We first introduced the flavours of the Andes to London in 2014 and over the years we’ve been busy travelling back to Peru discovering more about the traditions of the women-led picanterias.

“At Andina Picanteria we will be perfecting ancient techniques previously unseen in London and delving deeper into the rich culinary history of the Andes. We look forward to giving our new friends and neighbours in west London a typically warm Peruvian welcome.”

Morales is the executive chef, restaurateur and founder of Peruvian restaurants, Ceviche Soho, Andina in Shoreditch, and Ceviche Old St as well as the new, and AA Rosette-awarded Casita Andina in Soho. Before becoming a chef and restaurateur, he worked with Steve Jobs at Apple as the head of iTunes Pan EU, and was a DJ for many years playing at clubs and festivals in over 40 countries with the likes of Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, The White Stripes and Basement Jaxx.