A Moment of Form and Color: Mérito in Lima
Mérito was born small, on a street in Barranco named after a national holiday. But from day one, it felt different, not because it was flashy (quite the opposite), but because of its attention to detail, its intention, and its gesture. Today, the restaurant, led by Venezuelan chef Juan Luis Martínez, has matured without losing what made it special from the start: a constant sense of exploration, a connection to the product, and a raw, honest aesthetic.
Merito’s Camarón de río (a species of crawfish), tamarillo and dale dale (Goeppertia allouia)
When Juan Luis arrived in Lima to cook at Central —ranked No.1 at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023—he began to uncover the natural overlaps between Venezuela and Peru, not as a gimmicky fusion but as a sincere convergence of landscapes, ingredients, and emotions. When Mérito opened in 2018, the vision was clear: to cook from memory and the present, using techniques acquired through travel and forging an identity still in the making.
As Nicholas Gill put it in Food & Wine: “Trying to pigeonhole what Martínez is doing with Mérito doesn’t quite work. Calling it fusion seems limiting. The restaurant is personal if anything.” And it is. Mérito is a process of continuous transformation. Each dish is the result of a moment, not decorative but composed, like a work of art.
From outside you can see the restaurant’s open kitchen
From the open kitchen bar come plates that freely mix ingredients, colors, and forms: crab with Andean grains and bright powders, scallops, razor clams, curries, grilled corn with Venezuelan cheese, and arepa. Each one holds sweetness, acidity, nostalgia, technique, and a touch of abstract art. Juan Luis’s recipes live in his mind —he sketches, he notes, he tests again and again. Every idea begins with a texture, a memory, or an ingredient and evolves into something that continues to grow and change.
Merito’s Paiche (a large amazonian river fish) and Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza a tuber)
Seven years later, this process crystallizes into the restaurant’s first official tasting menu. It is an ever-changing experience built on rhythm, seasonality, and color. In June 2025, this new chapter earned Mérito a place among the world’s best restaurants, landing at No. 26 on The World’s 50 Best list.
From his kitchen or a corner of the restaurant, Martínez watches and wonders how to make the everyday feel extraordinary. Mérito is his way of organizing chaos: ingredients, emotions, memory, technique, seasons, instincts, frustrations. All within a circle—of flavor, texture, and perspective.
Chef Juan Luis Martinez on Merito dinning room
The space reflects this vision: exposed adobe walls, living wood, and plates that resemble unfinished canvases, where each color holds meaning. Every texture speaks a language—neither Venezuelan nor Peruvian—that transcends the culinary realm. The design elements are not merely decorative but functional, seamlessly integrated into the narrative.
Materials selected for the space by Astro Studio
And in that space are all the collaborators: Michelle, his wife, a partner in life and design, who creates spaces the way some compose silence. His team of cooks does as much with their eyes as they do with their hands. Kyra, the beverage director, follows Juan Luis’s creative lead in pairing wines, spirits, and cocktails—alcoholic or not—by color, texture, and height; all drinks are part of a palette that is chosen by her and the team at the moment.
A Family and an Expanding Universe
Clon the casual restaurant
What began as a two-level space with adobe walls and ten people in the kitchen now includes three other concepts: Demo, an artisan bakery and café that recently moved to Domeyer Street within the same district; Clon, a more laid-back sibling that channels Mérito’s spirit through more direct dishes—like a ceviche that flirts with the Venezuelan “Vuelve a la vida”; and Indio, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria led by Diego Olivera, a former team member turned partner, now ranked No. 75 in the 2025 Best Pizza Awards.
Guava and goat cheese pain suisse at Demo | Photos by Gonzalo Vera
The family grew to over 80, including those living in the front and back of the house, as well as at home: Juan Luis, Michelle Sikic, and their two children.
Round trip to keep growing
Since living in Peru, Juan Luis has returned to Caracas twice, the first time in over a decade, in 2023 and in February this year. The trip stirred something. “Going back to Venezuela shakes your molecules,” he told Peruvian journalist Paola Miglio. “You travel to a past that you feel in the present.” That emotion made its way into the kitchen through mango, guava, and cheese. His childhood memories were molded into casinos, tequeños, and golfers. “It’s a sensory trigger. The menu grows. And you end up being more you.”
Cachapas at Demo | Photos by Gonzalo Vera
That “you” is now present in every space he’s created. In Casa Colón, his latest creative center, where they experiment with fermentations, coffee, and more. In each aesthetic and conceptual decision. And above all, in that fierce resistance to the predictable. Because Mérito—like Juan Luis himself—doesn’t want to repeat itself, it wants to move people. It wants to feel new every time.
For details follow:
@clon.lima
@demo.lima
@__astrostudio__
