This is another awesome Tasting Collective dining club event we attended back in March 2022. (You can read about the previous posts about Tasting Collective events here: Fish Cheeks, Win Son, FOB, Xixa, Huertas, Bessou, Maharlika, Traif, Lalito, Noreetuh, Traif #2, Txikito, Oka, Xixa2, TabeTomo, Houseman, Nowon, and GAUDIr). Tasting Collective is a dining club for food lovers, and they offer brunch and dinner at great NYC restaurants. They close off the restaurants for the club, so we get to have the entire restaurant and Chef(s) all to ourselves. So, this is more than just eating food at a restaurant, but you get to have the background story and its passion from the Chef(s), eating 5- to 12- or more course brunch/dinner created specifically for Tasting Collectives. There is a discount code at the end of this blog for those of you who are interested in joining.

This event was held at Contento, 5-course Elevated Peruvian Dinner Event.  Contento’s Chef/Co-Owner Oscar Lorenzzi offers arroz con pato, octopus served with black chimichurri and chilled cauliflower gazpacho, as well as dishes that show Chinese and Japanese influences on Peruvian cuisine.

The inside was cozy and warm, welcoming with bright wall artworks on exposed brick walls. They had a beautiful bar, fully stocked. Chef Lorenzzi came out to talk about the restaurant and the dishes we were going to have. He was born in Lima, Peru, and his restaurant, Contento made the New York Times’ 2021 list of “Top 10 New Restaurants of 2021,” Esquire’s 2021 list of “Best New Restaurants in America” and much more! You know we were super excited to try his delicious creations!

We decided to try their cocktails, so we ordered Perusado ($18), made with Pisco, Cherry, Pineapple, and Lemon, and Bourbon Lemonade ($20). Perusado had the beautiful deep color that you can see here in the photos. It was fruity and elegantly sweet. Lemonade had a nice sweetness to it, strong and relaxing.

Now, let’s get into the food. The first course was Beet Tartare with panka emulsion, spring onions, crispy shallots, and goat cheese. Note it is BEET and not beef. This dish had the perfect mixture of crunchy and velvety textures. It had nice kick to it, spicy! Goat cheese went perfectly with beet. Sweetness of the cheese sauce balanced out the spicy flavor. Great starter dish to cleanse your pallet.

The second course was Octopus Ceviche with Persian cucumber, red onions, edamame, chicharron, and leche de pantera. Octopus was plump and super flavorful. Loved the crispy and crunchy chicharron. Cucumber had a nice crunch to it, and how he incorporated the squid ink was awesome! It sure was a medley of flavor and texture, which Chef Lorenzzi does so well with his each creation.

The third course was Quinoa & Corn Risotto with corn and queso fresco cream and chili oil. I can’t say enough about this dish, I absolutely loved everything about this dish! My photos might not look like much, but this risotto is to die for! It was an explosion of flavor with the chili oil, which was earthy without being spicy. Smoked Morita Chiles in the sauce giving that smoky note, making it extra flavorful. Loved the pop of the corn, very plump!

The fourth course was Arroz Con Pato, duck leg with Peruvian green rice and crunchy cabbage slaw. Many of us have heard of and tried Arros Con Pollo, but here at Contento, you get to have duck instead of chicken. This is one of their most popular dish, so I was excited to try it! And look how beautiful this dish is, it was made to perfection! With the first bite, I understood the reasons behind its popularity. Duck meat just falls off the bone, super crispy skin, and very juicy meat! Packed with flavor, and cilantro rice was great too. Cabbage was fresh and crispy, it helped cut off the rich flavors.

The last but not least, dessert! The last course was Chocolate & Passion Fruit Tart with dulce de leche chantilly. It had a velvety and creamy passion fruit top, gently hugging the chocolate inside, which had the texture of mousse. Dulce de leche chantilly brought extra flavor that binds them all to harmonious dessert. So good!

We had an amazing dinner here at Content, I see the reason why this restaurant was selected as one of the best by so many different publications. Everything was well crafted, flavor and texture was perfect in each one, and it was delicious from the first bite to the last. If you are looking for some amazing Peruvian dishes, look no further and head over to Contento!

For those of you who are interested in joining this great dining club, Tasting Collective, you can use this link to get a discounted annual rate of $125 (over 25% off the normal $165/year) for the first year: https://tastingcollective.com/?invite_code=JUN4346

Contento – 88 E 111th St, New York, NY 10029