Morena means ‘brunette’ in Spanish and it’s a name acclaimed Peruvian-born chef Alejandro Saravia says is emblematic of the style of elevated Latin American cuisine on offer at his new Sydney restaurant in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.

“I like to bring female names to my restaurants as it represents the style of hospitality I enjoy. Morena is the way we call a brunette in Latin America and it also means warm, hospitable, self-confident, sexy, elegant and sassy in my culture,” says Saravia who has also made a mark with his acclaimed outposts Farmer’s Daughters and Victoria by Farmer’s Daughters in Melbourne.

Saravia says his vision for the new 220-seater restaurant, which resides within the historic GPO building in Martin Place in November, is to introduce flavours that celebrate food from his native Peru as well as putting other Latin American cuisines in the limelight.

“I want to convey the complexities of Latin American cuisine and celebrate the difference between cuisines in different countries such as Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil,” says Saravia, who has been sharing his passion for Latin American cuisine since moving to Australia in 2006.

“Morena is the culmination of all my work bringing the best flavours of Latin American cuisine to Australia. I’m so happy that Latin American cuisine has a place in Australia. But now it’s time to have a flagship Latin American cuisine that brings the best of the continent to an environment that is of the highest level of excellence,” says Saravia.

Saravia says the dining experience is also informed by highly trained staff and elegant interior architecture that he says is a move “away from contrived cliches and alpacas and sombreros”.

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“We are in a GPO building that has a lot of heritage architecture so we are going to bring a kind of sophisticated, elegant plantation house decor into the dining room. There will be a bar, that will be lively and fun, but the dining room will also be divided into sections with banquettes that create warmth and intimacy, so it doesn’t feel like a food hall. There’s also going to be external seating overlooking Martin Place that will take advantage of Sydney’s great weather,” he says.

Saravia, who has worked at high-end restaurants around the world (including Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in the UK) says ceviche is one of the defining dishes on the menu. “For me, personally, ceviche is a dish that says a lot about how Latin American cuisine and culture works. We find ceviche in Mexico often called aguachile, which is raw fish marinated overnight in citrus juice will chilli and herbs. In Colombia, ceviche is only done with prawns. And then for us in Peru, it has to be almost raw and served only lightly marinated.”

The restaurant, like its Melbourne outposts, celebrates local producers and seasonal ingredients as well as imported ingredients and libations that have a Latin American leaning.

Morena is now open at Sydney GPO, 1 Martin Pl, Sydney.
To book, head to the Morena website.

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