Taita More like Per-ooh, that looks good!

Shhh, keep this quiet, but there's a new place in Cap Hill to get your hands on some fresh Peruvian white... potatoes in a spicy cheese sauce! That's right, South American cuisine-heads: your fix is here, at Taita.

Run by a pair of brothers (one of whom has done time in Peruvian kitchens), the warm, brick-walled space offers a solid look at their homeland's cuisine, which's influenced by Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese traditions, meaning everything from ceviches, to pastas, to slow-cooked meats. The 'viche's served with spicy aji limo pepper or in a cream of Pisco 100 (a Peruvian brandy beloved even more than she of UPN acclaim), and then there's tiraditos -- sashimi-like fish slices -- served in a passion fruit sauce. On the meatier side, there's shredded chicken breast with yellow Peruvian pepper cream, pisco-sauteed loin called tacu tacu, and, showing off the Italian influence, linguini served with grilled churrasco steak and called My Favorite Because "Pepe" Says So! (Pepe's the head chef, not just like, some random Peruvian guy).

Pair the meal with reds from Spain/ Chile/ Argentina, or go with Cusquena -- if you guessed that that's Peru's #1 beer, you, as usual, got it on the nose.