“We’re doing something nobody else does. I’m hoping people will want to come and give it a go.”
A new restaurant in East Belfast combining flavours from Latin America and Japan was inspired by the head chef’s grandmother.
KION opened its doors on Ballyhackamore a month ago, providing a new flavour experience for the people of Belfast. Their menu features unique dishes combining flavours and techniques from Peru, Ecuador, and Japan.
The new restaurant brings together the individual expertise of its chefs, Diego Guerrero, Michael Navarro, and Julian Ravagli. A main influence for their dishes is Nikkei cuisine, which emerged in Peru around the late 1800s as Japanese immigrants started adapting their cooking to the local environment and ingredients they had available.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, head chef Diego Guerrero said the idea for KION has been in the making for a long time, with some dishes inspired by his grandmother’s cooking.
He said: “We wanted to do a fusion of Michael’s Asian style with my South American style, which is the reason we call the restaurant KION. It is a mix of two words.
“When the Japanese emigrated to Peru, they didn’t have the word for “ginger”, Latin American people always shortened the Japanese word for it, and it sounds like “kion.” So the word is a mix of Japanese and Peruvian traditions, and what we do is Latin American with ingredients from Asia.
Michael Navarro preparing for service at KION restaurant(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
“For example, we have tiger’s milk which is a fusion of Nikkei and Pervuain cuisine. It’s celery and onions, which we extract all the flavours from those vegetables into the water, and we add spice, and that’s what is adding spice to our ceviche.
“Another dish we have is tiraditos, which is tuna sashimi, with an emulsion we do with chilli then we use some terriyaki sauces.
“All the recipes I have in my mind are because of my grandma from Ecuador, who is a professional chef. She used to have a catering company, so I’ve been chopping onions and carrots since I was 12. All of these small bits let me bring some memories.
“Our cod encocado dish is inspired by my grandmother as she used to do prawn encocado rather than cod, but we get the cod from Ewing’s as it’s good to get from Northern Ireland. It’s just a mix of emotions, traditions, and modern cuisine.”
The ceviche dish at KION restaurant in East Belfast(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
Reflecting on his own experience as a chef and how they built the menu at KION, Diego said the response they’ve received in their opening weeks has been great, with bookings steadily growing.
The 42-year-old is hoping people will take a chance on trying a new cuisine, and said the staff are more than happy to explain dishes or answer any questions.
He said: “I worked in England as a chef for a while, I worked with Robert Ortiz, a Michelin star Peruvian chef. He has London restaurants and he opened one in Birmingham.
“I worked with him in developing menus, and as part of this I started researching about Nikkei food and went through all these Asian dishes together.
“When opening KION, we sat down one day here and went through all the ingredients and put it all together. We have Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, we have a mix of Nikkei from the ceviche and tiraditos. We also wanted to try and keep a bit of an Irish tradition, so we do our spin on a Sunday roast.
The tuna tiradito dish at KION in Belfast(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
“It’s all coming together and we’re getting busier every week. We have lots of empty plates coming back to the kitchen, a lot of compliments.
“It’s bringing something new to Belfast and something a bit different to Ballyhackamore. We want to give customers the best experience. Some of them are amazed with the food, we have had people who have been to Colombia or Ecuador, who tried the same food over there and say it’s the same or better than what they’ve tried before.
“We have been open for four weeks, and we’ve seen people are very interested in what we’re doing, but at the same time there’s a lot to explain. So all these different flavours are new for many people here.
“We’re doing something nobody else does. I’m hoping people will want to come and give it a go.”
Video by Belfast Live videographer Justin Kernoghan.
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