Ají Peruvian Cuisine Verified listing

Long Beach is experiencing a food renaissance—from pastaand pizza to coffee and cocktails—and that means a lot of newbies moving in and impressing palates. This also means that many of the OGs can be left behind without as much acknowledgment for paving the way.

Ají Peruvian Cuisine is one such place, celebrating ten years of serving 4th Street (and a place I last wrote about ten years ago as well). This Peruvian staple steered away from the casualness that defined El Pollo Imperial and brought with it the idea that Peruvian food deserved to be served with a sense of elevation.

Lima natives and husband-and-wife team Chef Mitto Barriga and Rosita Wang entered the United States workforce with a deep dive into the restaurant industry. Chef Mitto began by jumping between tapas joints and steakhouses. And that most notably included the famed Spanish space Cobras & Matadors in Beverly Hills.

In 2010, an Argentine businessman approached Chef Mitto about possibly opening a space in Downtown L.A. And this was just as the Peruvian scene began to boom there. You had Chef Ricardo Zarate, who moved his Mo-Chica concept out of Mercado de Paloma and into DTLA. Following that, he created a mini-empire by opening Picca and Paiche. And Mex Perú Gipsy was just a few years away from making a splash in that very neighborhood.

“He lived in Long Beach and discovered this place,” Chef Mitto said, gesturing around what used to be the Atlantic Studio salon before it moved westward on 4th Street and into DTLB. “And ten years later, here we are.”

For Brian Addison's full feature on Ají Peruvian Cuisine, click here.