Mita

Just off Washington, D.C.’s bustling U Street corridor and across from the iconic 9:30 Club, this Michelin one-star tasting menu experience celebrates Latin American cuisine through a plant-based lens. Helmed by co-chefs Miguel Guerra and Tatiana Mora, the 50-seat corner restaurant showcases forward-thinking vegan renditions of traditional dishes from across South and Central America presented with flair and luxury. “Rather than just going to Venezuela, where both Tatiana and I are from, and staying there, we wanted to take diners on a trip that starts in Mexico and heads all the way south to Chile,” says Guerra. “We have a 200 percent mindset when we’re coming up with ideas: 100 percent visual plus 100 percent flavor.”

Expect a range of Latin American ingredients: oca, a Peruvian red-hued potato with an apple-like texture; cherimoya, a fruit similar to soursop; aji amarillo, a medium-heat pepper with a fruity character; huacatay; and lucuma, a fruit with a caramel-like flavor.

Early in the meal, a basket of arepas arrives, a nod to the chefs’ Venezuelan roots. There are five varieties: yuca, wheat, smoked potato, plantain, and fried corn. Accompanying them are guasacaca, a guacamole-like sauce; vegan sour cream topped with chili oil; and butter made from chontaduro, or peach palm fruit, which tastes like a nutty sweet potato.

The menu features the first dish Mora and Guerra created together: a watermelon crudo with ruby melon, charred avocado, cucumber–cilantro leche de tigre, and a wild rice crisp. Another staple is a ceviche made with young coconut marinated in mushroom powder for umami depth, served in a pool of coconut leche de tigre with pisco-infused torched pineapple and crispy tapioca pearls. A third foundational dish is arracacha soup with fava beans sautéed with togarashi, fried plantains, and shiitake mushroom dashi. The remaining courses shift with the seasons and whatever inspires the chefs at the moment.