A perfect setting for the pop-up, right by the hotel’s Azure pool, ‘Inti at Four Seasons’ – named after the Incan word for the sun – is dedicated to illuminating the excellence, vibrancy, and warmth of Peruvian cuisine.
One of the former head chefs of the Peruvian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Cordon Bleu Chef, Yovani Guevera, is a 12-year veteran of some of the world’s finest Peruvian restaurants. “Peru is a paradise of biodiversity,” she enthuses. “It has one of the world’s largest pantries and showcases five continents in one country. Ceviche, quinoa, potatoes, and purple corn are just some of the superfoods that originated there; it’s my mission to share the rest with the world in my own way.”
And at Inti at Four Seasons, share she does. From causa – a traditional potato dish made with aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow pepper) so beloved by Peruvians that its name is also commonly used to refer to a friend – to solterito, a refreshing salad from Arequipa in the south, which translates as “single guy” because the simple yet nutritious ingredients make it the perfect meal for a single man, Chef Yovani’s pop-up dishes narrate not only the flavours but the tales of one of the world’s most storied cuisines.
Her fresh, delicate ceviche – the flagship of Peruvian cuisine, perfected over 2000 years – vies with its unmarinated Japanese-Peruvian alternative, tiradito, which, unlike ceviche, is sauced immediately before service. Then there are succulent anticucho: Incan empire meat skewers that originated in the Andes, marinated in vinegar, spices, and Peruvian peppers. And then the sweet final chapter of clásico: a dreamy, colourful cream and purple dessert of mazamorra and rice pudding that celebrates the country’s two biggest football teams as well as two of its greatest superfoods.
In an atmospherically lit area beneath swaying palm trees on Bahrain’s one-of-a-kind resort island, Inti by Four Seasons will serve an a la carte menu to just six tables a night with a five-course degustation menu also available.
