Red Bank’s first authentic Peruvian restaurant has a mission to open eyes and surprise

by Marisa Procopio Photos by Tina Colella Photography

There’s something comforting, if a bit jarring, about walking into a restaurant and hearing “Jingle Bells” sung overhead in cheerful Spanish. The bursts of color on the walls and in the pillows lining a long bench made the same statement: the cold and drizzle are out there. In here, it’s about warmth. Runa Peruvian Cuisine chef-owner Marita Lynn came out of the kitchen with a third assault on the grey day: a wide, generous smile.

“I’ve been curious since I was a child, about cooking,” the Peru, Lima native said. “I always enjoyed making things for people.” After training at the Institute of Culinary Education and the celebrated restaurant Jean-Georges (both in Manhattan), Lynn began a catering company. In September 2014, she opened Runa’s doors. Many of her ingredients are imported from Peru, where “GMOs [genetically-modified organisms] are banned for ten years,” she said. “I grew up eating everything natural.” She also uses fresh ingredients, and goes organic “…as much as I can, for the better quality.”

The first dish served was an appetizer that celebrated the potato, an Andean staple. It was offered cool, sliced, and topped with yellow aji amarillo chile cheese sauce. (“That gives it the color and gives it spiciness,” Lynn said.) With salty botija olives, hard-boiled egg, and vibrant, grassy purple sprouts, the dish was an unusual and delicious interplay of color, creamy texture, and flavor.

Anticucho de Pollo was next. (“It’s street food, usually made with beef hearts,” said Lynn.) Here, it’s chicken marinated with aji panca chile and skewered, with rustic potatoes and huacatay-black mint sauce for dipping. Cebiche, the national dish of Peru, followed. (“We say cebiche with a ‘b,’ not a ‘v’—we’re stubborn!” she grinned.) It was made with mahi-mahi marinated in assertive fresh lime juice and garnished with shaved red onion and toasty Peruvian corn “…that pops on the inside,” said Lynn.

The next dish, Lomo Saltadao, was a stir-fry made with grass-fed beef. “You have to get it with the rice. Seriously… it soaks up all of the sauce,” confided amiable server Ryan Perillo. (He was right; it killed.) Chica Morada, a traditional Peruvian drink of purple corn and pineapple, was irresistible to sip in between bites. Made in house, it was delicately sweet, cinnamony, bright tasting, and an eye-popping shade of fuchsia.

A quinoa cream custard with dark caramel was a smooth finish, with Lynn’s mother’s own alfajores, butter cookies filled with dulce de leche and more crispy quinoa, alongside.

When asked what she’s proudest of, Lynn answers, “My courage. I could have given up, and I kept going. I truly believe in it. I want (patrons) to try something new. People come here who have never been to Peru, and some who have been to come and say it will never be as good, and then say, ‘Ah!’ When you eat it, you feel good.”

Runa Peruvian Cuisine
110 Monmouth St., Red Bank / 732.758.8904