Digitizing Dinner

The representation of four Peruvian fine dining restaurants on Instagram

Abstract

This project examines four fine dining restaurants in Lima, Peru—Central, Huaca Pucllana, Mayta, and Panchita—in connection to the manifestos the restaurants have on their websites to determine how the restaurants represent themselves on Instagram, and if the representation of the restaurants matches the goals, purposes, and inspirations on the websites. Peruvian cuisine has achieved international recognition, thanks to the Peruvian gastronomic boom of the 1980s, and now several Peruvian fine dining restaurants rank on several lists of the world’s best restaurants. Previous scholarship suggests a debate exists between two concepts surrounding Indigenous foods—foods common in Peruvian cuisine—of cultural control, meaning the Indigenous group can control the demand for cultural foods, and the opposing side which states chefs must invent and reinvent culturally significant foods to keep the attention of tourists. Neocolonialism and postcolonialism in global society have influenced the rise of elite structures, such as fine dining restaurants, in previously colonized countries, continuing the pattern of Western influence in other parts of the world. Instagram posts and website snippets from each of the four restaurants were thematically and semiotically analyzed. Further, the prevalent themes of the posts revealed which posts to select for deeper analysis and comparison to the website pages. This research concludes fine dining restaurants in Lima, Peru emphasize more contemporary aspects of fine dining and mostly ignore the traditions and founders of Peruvian cuisine—misaligning with the messages of the manifestos. Determining if the chefs of Lima’s haute dining scene are helping Indigenous communities by omitting Indigenous people on Instagram or if the restaurants are simply reaping the benefits of the Indigenous people’s kindness could improve Indigenous representation in Peruvian cuisine.