Once upon a time, Sílvia met Juan Carlos Perret, head chef of Kero. She tried his food in a gastronomic event where she was performing. She told him how she’d love to go to his restaurant but never could because whenever she was in Vigo, it was closed (Sunday is a bitch) He then told her he loved her music too, so they talked for a couple of minutes and there started a very beautiful relationship.

Well, actually…not quite that. Almost two years passed after that and we didn’t see each other anywhere else. Why? Well, here’s a couple of reasons: accident, hospital… But the thought of going to Kero, his restaurant, kept coming to me every now and then. I mean…I make “ceviches” all the time at home.

The thing is. On March the 23rd I had to work in Vigo. It was an amazing day and I loved everything about that gig. We stayed until Monday because we knew we were going to be late that night and the following one kept bringing special things to our lives. As it was the first time (since I learnt about Kero) that we were going to be in Vigo on a Monday, we planned to go at last.

Funny coincidence. Just before I’m going to enter the stage, a guy in the audience talks to me and tells me how he had to rush his last dessert in order to get to the gig. I couldn’t see him and took me a while to recognise him, but I told him I was so glad to see him. After the gig we didn’t talk, but that’s quite common, we always finish very late and most people are already heading home when we start partying. I know, for people who go to our gigs it’s all about the entertainment, so they usually forget that we really are working. But some of us stay late and go to a 24/7 cafeteria that we find nearby. In this case we know it very well, it’s Ecos. I’m so grateful for this place being open 24/7, seriously.

 

 

The next day, after saying a couple of times how excited I was about going to Kero on Monday, we find Mr.Perret on his scooter coming towards us saying how much he enjoyed the gig the day before. And I started laughing at how the universe works sometimes, and when you need to go to Kero yes or YES…the universe will force you until that happens (not that I needed any convincing).

 

 

We spent a whole chunk of the night talking about food, ideas, projects and we found that we had a lot in common in many ways. We ended up having a very different kind of night. We shared personal and professional experiences and I think that was a night we all are going to remember.

 

 

The next day I was even more excited to try his food. Aftera all, getting to know him had been such a great experience!

There’s a thing about Peruvian food that I love. Well, there’s many. They are able to balance two of the most potent flavours (acid and heat) in a delicious leche de tigre so you just want more and more. That makes me smile.

I’ve tried Peruvian food a couple of times before, but none have been like this one. I love sharing my experiences with you and this one makes me really happy. Not only because the food was perfect and he explained everything to perfection. Also, their wines were very well selected and that makes me even happier, even if I don’t drink that much lately.

 

I know you are used to my gluten-free vegan recipes, but I must warn you that this post has a lot of seafood and fish involved. If you are curious about why I eat how I eat, it’s simple…I try to eat what feels best for me, and sometimes that involves fish, even though I don’t do it quite often. I’m still learning how to eat for myself, so I don’t end up messing my health more than it is already. If you want to read more click here.

They had a vegan ceviche option and some vegetarian choices, and I know he is more than happy to experiment with vegetables. We talked about that a lot the day before. You’ll see what I’m talking about when I get to the asparagus (literally, not a made up sentence😁).

 

Well, without rambling about it, let’s get to the point. Kero is an amazing restaurant. I could stop there, but I’m sure you want to know every little detail about my experience. So grab a bib, because it’s a mouthwatering one.

Carlos and I have a system whenever we go to a restaurant for a Sílvia Fooding experience. We usually order one menu and a dish. But now that I don’t eat meat or gluten, dishes feel lighter and sometimes we end up ordering a bit more. This time, we ordered two set menus. Because we really wanted to try as many dishes as possible.

They were very considerate in the kitchen, and I don’t know whose idea was it…but they divided the dishes so I could take the nice picture while Carlos ate in peace 🤣 It’s good that they know me🤦🏼‍♀️

 

 

Out of the menu, they had a very delicate and light amuse bouche. A small croquette made with sancochado, rice flour and ají panco, topped with ají amarillo allioli, mackerel nigiri and sliced fresh ají limo. The choice of flour made me happy for various reasons, it felt as a whisper in my mouth. Delicate and airy but consistent. It was rather sweet and left me wanting more but knowing one was enough. I’ve never felt a deep-fried croquette so utterly delicate. And the fact that the rice gave it a sweeter, non-sugary taste, made it perfect. Well, it’s obvious that the ají played the most important role, not to mention the mackerel. Sweet, spicy, delicate, delicious. The perfect way to amuse my bouche, I must say. The intense depth of flavour was able to keep it’s elegance.

Next, they served us the white fish tiradito. If I remember well, it was bream. Wow. Astonishing. The texture of the fish and the flavour. They soak it in sea water for a while in order to season it, and that makes it perfect. It wouldn’t matter if the rest of the dish wasn’t good because the fish was so amazing that there was no need for anything else. But, there was something else and it had the same standards as the fish. The little dots of sweet potato purée were, again, a delicate surprise. Normally you expect sweet potato to be starchy and dense. Not the case. It makes perfect sense, because the fish was so fragile that it would have ruined it. I kept digging for more. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask for another one of the same or be amazed by what would come next. I definitely was enjoying myself.

One of the things that I remember I loved was the roasted flavour of nori. So subtle you only noticed it without caring too much. I mean, it didn’t take you away from the rest of the dish. At this point Juan asked how was it regarding spicyness. Carlos and I love our food very spicy. I mean, very, very spicy. So we cautiously said they could increase it a bit (you can never play with a Peruvian guy and the level of spiciness, they play in a different league).

They brought us some ají paste in order to add more if we wanted. Such a great thing. So beautiful. Its bright yellow colour made me want to eat it on its own…I’m crazy.

Next dish was the “Power Ceviche”. The protein was mackerel and, again, it was sublime. The same as with the tiradito, fish was the main character in the scene, so they made sure the other ingredients didn’t shadow his appearance. They didn’t. And, in this case, they enhanced it a bit more. It seemed like all the ingredients were dancing together to a calm piano song, and the heat was just right as to let you know it was there. Pungent citrus flavours without being overwhelming and completly balanced. I seriously have to learn a couple of things about ceviches from this guy.

I remember myself sipping that Leche de Tigre, wishing there was a glass full of it. Amazing. And those bonito flakes you see on top of everything? They just gave another layer of flavour to it all. But being so thin, they were very elegant. And, as you can see, the dance I talked about before, was not only a flovour dance, but a texture dance. Both combining in one simple bite. At this point of the meal I was only trying not to look too impressed 😅

And just when I thought I couldn’t like Kero more…this delicious dish came to the table. I can’t believe it. I don’t have words, seriously. I don’t want to dig too deeply, but if I do, I’m pretty sure this is the best dish I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Like…I mean…I still think about it.

Those cockles were the freshest you could ever get. They were cooked to perfection, with that subtle roasted flavour from opening them on the grill. You could feel the flavour of sea and seaweed in them, like if they were a bubble. I was deeply amused by the texture and flavour of the “beach banana” as I believe it was called (seaweed). It was a delicious thing on top of that already delicious cockles. The texture resembled to that of a perfectly cooked green bean. And the rocoto sauce…I just don’t want to talk about it. It was so ridiculously good I just kept slurping it. It was much more spicy than the rest of the dishes (we really encouraged him to do so) and I can’t believe how much I loved all the things together.

Fun fact…fresh rocoto makes me cough. Weird, eh? I know. But even though I coughed a bit (actually I nearly choked and that’s why it made me cough) I enjoyed it so much that I joked “I could die now, you know…it’s too good, so at least I wouldn’t be choking on water” Another fun fact, I drink a lot of water and I choke more often than I wish🤦🏼‍♀️.

After this dish I though the rest of them would have a real problem trying to impress me.  It’s true, I kept mentioning the cockles for the rest of the meal and the rest of the day (and the month). But Juan interrupted our menu and brought us a dish that he had told us about the day before. A white asparagus with hollandaise sauce and its concentrated broth.

Oh man, if it weren’t because it had butter, I would eat that every single day. The broth was the most flavourful thing I’ve ever tried with asparagus. The hollandaise was very good, although I let Carlos enjoy it while I just tried it with the perfectly cooked grilled asparagus that I want to be cooking every day now…I just don’t have the courage to try and imitate this dish. Although if I ask, he’ll give me the exact recipe. Because Juan is special and one thing I love about him is that he can give you the exact recipe to anything.  As he would say: “you can have the chords, melody, lyrics and tempo for a song, but it’s not going to sound the same if played by others”. Wise words and an inspiring way to understand art as something to share.

We still had a dish to try. Small squid in broth. I can’t remember anything that was on the sauce (I think I was still in shock after the cockles and the asparagus). Lucky for me, I had a video of him explaining it 🙌🏻

Apparently they let the fish “sweat” in a traditional way, and they grill the bones and make the broth. To that, they add roasted ají amarillo and a touch of pisco. The roasted flavour was emphasized by the small squid (chipirones). A cherry tomato cooked by osmosis and some sea salt flakes topped the dish. I hate myself right now for not living in Vigo to enjoy his food more often. I hope I can come back soon. By the way, as you can guess, the squids were perfectly cooked and the flavours were incredibly well balanced.

And finally, Juan served us the “Suspiro Limeño” Suspiro means whisper in Spanish. And now, let’s go back in time and remember that first dish I defined feeling as whisper in my mouth. Well, when something finishes as it ends, it makes the perfect meal. I’m not too keen on sugar, you know that. But this dessert was sweet, yet balanced. There was acidity and the textures made me crave for more. There was a piece of meringue that gave a little bit of crunchiness. Never forget it was a “whisper” so the meringue was light and graceful and it became friends with the citrus foam on top of the dulce de leche mousse. He told us it had umami and indeed it had.

I don’t have the words to thank Juan for being such an amazing chef and human. I would go everyday to Kero if it wasn’t because I really love cooking. But seriously, I’ll bring him to my home and make him cook with me day in day out 😁

I really recommend you go there if you’re ever in Vigo, it’ll be worth your while. Counting the days until I visit again and enjoy another amazing meal. Have fun and keep fooding!