Alfojores are a traditional Latin American dessert, two shortbread cookies sandwiching a dollop of caramel-like dulce de leche and then dusted with confectioners’ sugar. The version served at Costanera in Montclair is almost ethereal in its interpretation, the anise-infused shortbread all delicate and crumbly thanks to the use of both wheat and rice flour, the dulce de leche smooth and rich — just enough to make you swoon but not so much as to intimidate the cookie itself. It’s a thoroughly genteel and elegant version of this dessert.
That refinement of cuisine is what chef Juan Placenia — a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who has worked at Jean-Gorges, Gramercy Park and Eleven Madison Park — is going for here, taking his familiar Peruvian food and elevating it to a higher plane through the techniques he’s learned at culinary school and in the kitchens of all those great Manhattan restaurants.
Placenia cut his teeth in the restaurant business — his parents own Oh! Calamares in Kearny. But while his father and mother are self-taught restaurateurs, serving authentic Peruvian food, Placenia, 28, defines his role as advancing the cuisine, keeping the tradition intact while playing with its parameters.
Ceviche Costanera ($17), for example, boasts all the crispness you’d hoped for upon ordering — fireworks of lime, chilies (three different ones), red onion and cilantro. But the fish here is not traditional; this trio is crab, ahi tuna and prawns. It’s the restaurant’s signature dish, and it was stunning. (Old-school versions also grace the menu.)
The restaurant also offers several versions of the Peruvian Yukon potato cake, filled with either peekytoe crab, chicken or artichoke. For American palates, this is a sort of alternately constructed potato salad, thanks to the Yukon’s familiar pairing with a mayo-based dressing. We chose the vegetarian version ($9), our waitress’s favorite,
and were not steered incorrectly. (A tasting trio is available.) A quinoa salad ($4) with almonds and dried cherries in a lime vinaigrette, was delightfully crisp and light.
Churrasco ($26) is so much more than you’d expect, starting not with an inexpensive cut but with Black Angus ribeye; it’s robust and velvety. A side of tacu-tacu, a traditional beans and rice dish, was topped with a gorgeously runny fried egg.
For the picante de mariscos ($24), Placenia starts with his own fish stock (which includes pisco), adds aji mirasol, a somewhat fruity chili, and a touch of cream for a sauce that’s both nuanced and bold; he then poaches the fish — a la minute, he says, with a flourish. The result? A traditional seafood sauté that is elevated
from its roots by a lush homemade stock and a bit of French technique.
Placenia punches his sentences with as many precise ingredients as his food; he speaks fast, eager to spill his encyclopedic knowledge of the cuisine, Peruvian history and the inspiration behind the cut logs glued to his restaurant walls. (He wanted to suggest nautical without recycling the same old yacht or aquatic theme; the logs suggest fishing piers and were an idea from Martha Stewart Living.) He talks about the French-inspired raw bar, the planned oyster-shucking station, the importance of making a reservation to this 60-seat restaurant because he keeps tight control of inventory for the sake of freshness, striving daily to make just enough. And he expounds on his theory of service — that a good meal can become a stellar experience if the service is outstanding, but that poor service will ruin even an exemplary meal.
Cleary, service matters. The restaurant is new (having opened in May), our waitress was new (employed just a week), and one of our dinners arrived all wrong. Yet we felt graciously attended, with mistakes quickly fixed, apologies made and complimentary desserts offered.
Complimentary or not, the desserts are a spectacular finale. The tres leche cake ($6) is spoon-cake decadence. The organic ice cream ($5) made from Peruvian lucuma fruit is an exotically rich treat. And, of course, there are those alfojores ($3.50).
Costanera
511 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair, (973) 337-8289, costaneranj.com.
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays, 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.
Teresa Politano's Rating: THREE STARS