Peruvian Street-Food Chef To Open Brick-and-Mortar Eatery In SF

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Fans who miss Peruvian Chef Carlos Altamirano’s "Sanguchon" food trucks can rejoice: The street-food cuisine will be served at a new brick-and-mortar restaurant, slated to open Thursday, April 15 on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Sanguchon (meaning sandwich) will be a fast-casual eatery serving such contemporary Peruvian specialties as: the "Lomo Saltado," (beef tenderloin, tomatoes and onions, topped with a Pisco-soy reduction, fries and crema de rocoto); "Pan Con Chicharron" (roasted pork loin, fried yams, lime-marinated onions, crema de rocoto); "Fried Crispy Chicken" (marinated in Aji Amarillo and lemon, coleslaw, crema de rocoto); and "Barbacoa" (crispy spareribs, Inca-Cola BBQ sauce, coleslaw and Huacatay aioli).

The eatery joins the Altamirano Restaurant Group, that specializes in authentic, Peruvian cuisine from Chef Altamirano, with culinary roots from his native Nazca, a coastal region in southern Peru.

The restaurant, at 1182 Valencia St. at 23rd Street, will feature indoor seating for 29, an outdoor parklet with 10 seats and two murals by Forest Kell – one of the original Sanguchon food truck and the other of Lima, Peru. As an added homage to Peru, designer Ralph Lammers laser-cut the Nazca Lines in White Oak to grace the wall, recognizing pre-Columbian geoglyphs etched into desert sands in southern Peru.

With more than 20 years of experience in Bay Area kitchens, including at Grand Café, Kuleto’s, One Market and Hawthorne Lane, Altamirano in 2004 launched with wife, Shu Dai, his first Peruvian restaurant, Mochica, in the SOMA district.

Expansion led to a larger location in Potrero Hill in 2014, and from there ... Piqueos, a Peruvian tapas bar, in Bernal Heights in 2007; Michelin-starred La Costanera in 2009, north of Half Moon Bay offering coastal cuisine of Latin America; followed by restaurants in Walnut Creek, Emeryville, Lafayette and a fleet of food trucks, which were retired in 2018.

Altamirano also followed his passion for organic, responsibly sourced ingredients with his founding in 2010 of Alta Farm in Half Moon Bay — a single-acre plot solely dedicated to producing the spicy rocoto variety of pepper, a foundational ingredient in Peruvian cuisine.

And if dining at his newest eatery, save room for the freshly baked Alfajores, classic Peruvian dulce de leche shortbread cookies.

Sanguchon also will serve beer and wine, showcasing Altamirano’s special label, Altamirano, Finca Don Carlos Malbec, and such Peruvian beers as Cusqueña and Cristal, along with non-alcoholic beverages including Inca-Cola and traditional Peruvian drinks and juices.

Sanguchon will be open Tuesdays through Sundays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with delivery available through DoorDash. Follow this link here for details, or here on Facebook, for more info.

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