CHIC Eats

As the great heat of a Doha summer begins to ease, there are few more beautiful places to eat than La Mar by Gastón Acurio at InterContinental Doha. We pass down an avenue of olive trees and through tall latticed dark-wood doors. The double-height dining room is an oasis of neutral tones, natural stone and warm wood, but we are lured beyond it, stepping between twin fountains to our table on the terrace. Our view is the pale golden sand and lapping waves of Doha’s longest private beach, embraced by a curving promenade that runs out to a viewpoint with 360-degree views of the Arabian Gulf and city skyline.

Peruvian cuisine is all about simple, fresh ingredients used to maximum effect: contrasts of colour and texture, sweetness, acidity and heat. This food is a love-affair, a criollo marriage of flavours from Spain to the Amazon, Asia to the Andes, and Gastón Acurio is its premier global ambassador, recruiting the finest young culinary talent to bring his passion to the world.

It’s this strong and active connection to the motherland, under the leadership of Executive Chef Frank Ponce Yalico, that makes dining at La Mar such an entirely authentic and transporting experience. And La Mar is now offering an altogether more intimate invitation. Every Saturday evening, this young and innovative cooking team invites diners to taste a new menu based on the flavours of their homes, the food they grew up eating, secrets handed down generation to generation, now refined, elevated and presented to the world.