New Latin Foodscape: At Peruvian Corner, a Backyard Oasis of Sabor
Miguel Torres cooked at trendy Peruvian Nikkei restaurants around South America. Now he has a place of his own—in a tranquil backyard in Waialua.
Honolulu’s Latin foodscape has long belonged to its Mexican restaurants, reliable go-tos for burritos, fajitas and free-flowing margaritas. Change here was inevitable—craft taquerias started proliferating more than a decade ago, followed lately by regional Mexican food specialists.
Throughout, an even bigger sea change has gone largely unnoticed: Roughly two dozen South and Central American eateries have set up around O‘ahu, the vast majority without fixed storefronts. From food trucks, trailers and farmers markets, they’re serving up Peruvian ceviches, Colombian cookies and all kinds of empanadas.
The reason? Latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic group in Hawai‘i—comprising 11% of the population in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—so it’s natural their food cultures would follow. “Before, everyone was from Mexico,” says Sandy Tsukiyama, a Spanish-language interpreter who hosts The Brazilian Experience on KHPR. “Now they’re from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela and Colombia, and some are from Nicaragua.”
It’s not just a growing population. Peruvian cuisine has been trending globally—three of the 2024 World’s 50 Best Restaurants are in Lima (and just one in New York City)—arguably one reason this is the most popular of Honolulu’s new Latin offerings. Here’s a look at players in the nuevo mundo Latino.
Peruvian Corner | Guaiqueri | La Casita | San Paolo Pizza & Wine | Mercado de la Raza
Dishes at Peruvian Corner, clockwise from top left: lomo saltado, aji de gallina, purple corn, flaming scallops, ceviche. Photo: Oliver Koning
There’s a wonderland quality to Peruvian Corner, as if fairies touched this cocoon of a space in the backyard of The Smoking Boar and the Coconut in Waialua. A smiley face sun beams from a mural and fresh flowers adorn white picnic tables under matching red umbrellas—the same colors that decorate Miguel and Fanny Torres’ food trailer. Lomo saltado, aji de gallina chicken stew, salchipapa sausage-topped fries, Cheesecake Lilicoy: The hands that make and serve these dishes are the ones that painted the tables and set out the flowers. If you eat in, real plates appear—my yuca fries arrive on a sheen of black glass.
Miguel and Fanny Torres, center, with their children. Photo: Oliver Koning
“My husband, I love my husband’s food,” co-owner Fanny Torres says. The ceviche clasico, a simplicity of hamachi under red onion shavings, is perfect in its fresh tang and heat. More mysterious is the other ceviche: mixed fish set off by tobiko and jewel-like cuts of yam. Before he found a job in the U.S. secure enough to bring Fanny and their two children, Miguel Torres cooked in trendy Peruvian Nikkei restaurants around South America. He’s working his way back up.
Photos: Oliver Koning
I ask to snap a photo. Next to her husband, Fanny beams and lifts her chin with pride. She shows me a phrase she’s typed into a translator app on her phone: “Nosotros pensamos más adelante tener un restaurante o espacio major,” it reads. “We plan to have a restaurant or a better space in the future.” Secretly, I hope they’ll stay awhile in this happy corner.
67-456 Goodale Ave., Waialua, (808) 367-7669, @peruviancornerhawaii
