SOLD – Hilltop Restaurant, Novato

In the next few months the restaurant will become the second location for the very successful Ayawaska of Petaluma, which is home to fresh authentic Peruvian cuisine with a special modern twist. The owners will be remodeling the restaurant to enhance its already open airy feeling by opening up the front of the restaurant with large doors to enhance the customer’s already fabulous panoramic view. Aywaska’s mission it to provide a world class dining experience into the rich and vibrant taste of Peru, A profusion of Peruvian food has made once-exotic foods like lomo saltado, Pisco sours and giant kernels of Choclo (Peruvian corn) a more familiar sight. A large menu hits all the high points, including several types of fish ceviche, yuccas, quinoa, beef dishes and preparations that showcase the region’s melting pot of cuisines from China and Japan to Spain, France and indigenous peoples. Sweet, salty, savory and spicy flavors intermingle in each dish thanks to corn, raisins, yellow peppers and piquant spices. The ceviche’s have a sharp tang of citrus that makes the mix of raw fish, corn, sweet potato, red onion that makes this marinade so memorable. Pisco-spiked cocktails made with the much-loved brandy of Peru are topped with egg whites, mixed with lime and served up icy cold are delightful. They also feature a number of island tonics made with rum, mezcal and gin.