D’Peru, a new family-owned local restaurant in East Naples, celebrates Peruvian-style roasted chicken.
D’Peru launched Good Friday, April 18, for an Easter weekend soft opening. The restaurant’s grand opening will be 11 a.m. April 23.
The centerpiece of D’Peru’s menu is its juicy Pollo a la Brasa rotisserie chicken, which is celebrated in Peru with its own holiday, Día del Pollo a la Brasa. Roasted over hot coals, the national dish is loved for its tender meat and crispy skin. Before roasting, the chicken is marinated in flavorful seasonings, such as Peruvian soy sauce, cumin and rosemary.
“It’s going to have a unique taste, which we have not been able to find in Naples here at least because our ovens come from Peru,” said Dania Bedoya Puertas, who co-owns D’Peru with her husband, Bassam Bitar. The North Naples couple notes that Peruvian ovens are fueled by charcoal, giving their roasted meats a unique taste.
Bedoya is the creator of most of the recipes, especially the chicken. She studied culinary arts in Peru and her family owned a chicken store — or polleris — many years ago in the South American country.
“She was raised in that kind of business,” said Cellini Machiavello-Phillips, a longtime local chef assisting the local couple in launching D’Peru.
Machiavello-Phillips, who has a background preparing Peruvian and Italian cuisines for more than 30 years, will serve as general manager and a chef at D’Peru with Chef Bedoya and other experienced cooks joining him in the kitchen.
The name D’Peru is a nod to Dania Bedoya, who originally wanted to name the restaurant De Peru, which means “from Peru.” One of her sisters suggested she name it D’Peru, with the D designated for Dania.
Peruvian cuisine has grown in popularity for more than a decade in the Naples area. Its bold colors and flavors with staples, such as corn, potatoes and aji peppers, appeal to the meat-and-potatoes roots of transplanted Midwesterners.
“A lot of people are traveling to Peru, so they are finding out that the Peruvian cuisine is good,” Machiavello-Phillips said. “There are a few restaurants here where you can go in and try the authentic Peruvian cuisine. That’s the whole idea with us here at D’Peru. We want to have authentic Peruvian cuisine.”
The casual restaurant has counter service, featuring its rotisserie chicken whole, halved or quartered with a choice of sides.
“Our chicken in Peru mostly comes with fries and a Peruvian-style salad, but we also have other options,” he said. “We have fried yuca sticks and plantains. We have black beans, white rice and a Peruvian type of seasoned fried rice.”
The menu also includes Peruvian favorites, such as ceviche, fried whole red snapper and lomo saltado, a Peruvian beef stir-fry.
“We want to invite everybody to try our chickens and the different dishes that we have,” Bedoya said.
To create D’Peru, a vacant retail unit at 1233 Airport-Pulling Road was transformed into a new restaurant space in the center of Promenade Plaza on the southeast corner of Airport-Pulling Road and Estey Avenue. That’s the same retail strip that already is home to other eateries, such as Rumba Cuban Cafe, Joe’s Diner, Papa John’s, Dragon Palace, Naples Ice Cream Shoppe and Mr. Beef.
D’Peru is open daily for lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. D’Peru plans to eventually be able to offer beer, especially Peruvian beers.
