La Costanera–The First Taste

The floodlit entrance

We were lucky enough to get an invitation to the ’soft’ opening of the new Peruvian restaurant on Friday night. The official ‘Grand Opening’ for the general public is next Friday. We were warned that as this was the first live run of the new kitchen and staff so be prepared for some hiccups. Our party of six was welcomed at the door by two hostesses and we were seated in the middle of the floor in front of the open kitchen. As we looked around we recognized many Montara local faces, and waved and said hi. Shortly after we were seated, our server Luigi brought us a tray of Pisco sours to try, ‘it’s the Peruvian equivalent of a margarita’ he said, delicious. Our cocktail was swiftly followed by a dazzling array of appetizer plates delivered by more servers dressed head to toe in black. If this was a test run I can’t wait to try the food when they really have it dialed in! It was delicious, our group was truly blown away by the freshness and quality of the food. Seafood cooked to perfection and spicy hot ceviche so fresh that I expected it to jump off the plate and flap around on the table.

During a break in the service while Luigi went in search of wine for our table, I decided to take a quick look around at the new decor. The theme is subtlety coastal using recycled materials both natural and manmade. The 10,000 sq ft space still has three levels with two outside glassed in patio areas. Great to watch the sunset from, alas it was fogged in that night. If I was to find one criticism of the building it would be it’s acoustics, which are terrible, all the noise from the main room is reflected back down into the dining area which makes it a pretty loud dining experience, especially with an excited crowd such as tonights! Some sound canceling boards would easily cure the problem.

Just when we thought the food had finished we are asked to order a main meal, again too many awesome flavors to describe, you will just have to play a visit to taste for yourself. We finished the dining with two delightfully light and tasty desserts made with fresh strawberries, passionfruit and pineapple. After a nightcap in the downstairs bar we called it a night and headed out for the 2 minute drive home. All in all a fantastic night with outstanding food, I would like to thank Lisa at Rivera PR and Al Gonzalez, La Contaneras general manager and the owners for hosting the event. There is a ‘Grand Opening’ night this coming Friday, if you can get there I highly recommend attending.

La Contanera, Montara, well worth the wait.

http://www.lacostanerarestaurant.com