Peruvian Chill

Fifteen entrées are divvied into chicken, beef, and fish/seafood categories. Some of the offerings, like beef Stroganoff and chicken Cordon Bleu, wander into the realm of prosaic Continental cuisine. I'm not sure where "chicken Adriana" originates from; the menu claims it is "another folly of our chef!" (course descriptions are filled with other curious proclamations, such as "If you don't know it yet, you can't miss it!!!" and "Long live to crazy people!"). If this is folly, Chef Adriana needs to come up with more; the two juicy wedges of grilled chicken were scrumptious in creamy green peppercorn sauce flamed with cognac and sweetened with hints of apples and prunes.

Sabana con tacu-tacu wooed us too. The main component — a large, pounded-out, breaded steak cutlet — was on the dry side, but tacu-tacu saved the day. This Afro-Peruvian favorite is a well-seasoned, pork-based mix of rice and beans fried into the shape of a burrito. At Adriana, the meat and tacu-tacu come with classic criollo accompaniments of a fried egg and fried bananas tossed with vinegared red onions. Price for this dish is $16.95. Excepting osso buco ($33.95), all main courses are under $25.

Just a few seafoods are proffered: tuna with chili pepper chutney; teriyaki salmon; and "shrimp fish," which I ordered because it looked so good passing by on its way to another table. The fish on that plate, tilapia, was sautéed, but mine came as two battered and fried fillets — a cooking method not mentioned on the menu. The tilapia had its usual mild, almost nonfish flavor, which was greatly enhanced by medium-size shrimp and a spicy sauce perked with pisco (Peruvian brandy).

You can try a glass of pisco at the full bar or choose from a concise and not particularly inspiring wine list. At least the prices are affordable: Bottles of white top out at $52, and the most expensive red, the Super Tuscan Bibo, goes for $63. Kudos to Adriana for offering a wide array of refreshing nonalcoholic beverages such as mint lemonade, fruit shakes, coffee coolers, herb-infused teas, and chicha morada, an "acquired taste" drink made from purple corn. Try to order something other than water, glasses of which went unfilled for such long stretches that we were as thirsty as a tour group hiking up Machu Picchu without a canteen. That Adriana's cuisine is assertively salted and spiced made the deprivation that much more severe.

Dessert selections, like the rest of the menu, lurch globally from apple pie à la mode to profiteroles to marble cheesecake, brownies, crème brûlée ... and also include a few Lima-style treats like lucuma mousse and a "stumble" made from chirimoya, a fruit textured like puréed bananas but with a musky pineapple flavor. The chirimoya comes interspersed in a goblet with dulce de leche and cubes of baked meringue. Another dessert brings the same meringue layered with strawberries, whipped cream, dulce de leche, and fudge. Such ingredients are pretty much guaranteed to please any sweet tooth.

I suppose it wasn't surprising that nobody said good night to us on our way out the door. As I've stated, Adriana is a restaurant worth dining at despite the lack of hospitality. On the other hand, if it was Mark and Adriana's home I was visiting, I'd never go back.