Coracora Peruvian Cuisine Opens Flagship Location in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square

Back in 2011, Hector Ludena and Luisa Jimenez took a chance and opened their first restaurant in West Hartford’s Shield Street Plaza, naming it for the Peruvian city they hailed from. 

Coracora took over a former McDonald’s building, its kitchen turning out pollo a la brasa and lomo saltado instead of Chicken McNuggets and Quarter Pounders. It became another local international favorite in the plaza that’s also home to Pho Boston, Shu and the A Dong Asian supermarket. The staff even ended up using the former fast-food drive-through window during the pandemic to offer minimal contact takeout. 

Then in 2022, things shifted in a way the Ludena family still says is surreal and hard to grasp. Coracora was named as a nominee for the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurant award, and Macarena Ludena, Hector and Luisa’s daughter, was a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Northeast award category. Suddenly, the local spot was on a national stage.

“It was like, ‘What is going on?’” said co-owner Grecia Ludena, Macarena’s sister. “Our food is very traditional, very familiar dishes. We were like, ‘How did this happen?’ I think my parents still don’t believe it at this point, that it happened. How did they even find us? ...It’s just hard to believe in a way, but it changed our lives.”

Naturally, crowds began to descend on the family restaurant. The Ludenas were busier than ever, and the success continued as Coracora proved the honor wasn’t a fluke, with two more consecutive Outstanding Restaurant nominations from the Beard Foundation. In May of 2024, the family announced they’d be expanding the restaurant, planning an upscale flagship location in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square.

They spent about a year and a half renovating the former Rosa Mexicano space, working with designer Christian Arkay-Leliever to lean into Peruvian tradition, culture and heritage for the 190-seat restaurant. A mural represents the Nazca Lines, giant geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert of Peru created by the ancient Nazca culture between 500 BCE and 500 CE, and another black and white mural by Los Angeles-based Peruvian artist Rudolph Castro relates a story of food culture, farming, craft, culinary arts, and the evolution to the family table. 

Macrame wall dividers and pendant chandeliers represent Peru’s Andes mountain range and a nod to Peru’s macrame artistry. Another colorful pendant chandelier takes the form of the Inca Cross, the Chakana, and represents the Andean Cosmos with its array of colors. Grecia Ludena said Arkay-Leliever even created a textured effect on the walls that evokes images of old buildings in the town of Coracora, with peeling paint. 

The Ludena sisters said it was important for them to offer something different at the new Coracora, a more upscale and refined setting and menu than their original restaurant. They decided to revamp the Shield Street eatery as a fast-casual spot, streamlining the menu and focusing on classics like lomo saltado, chaufa (fried rice) and ceviche. The family also decided to keep the pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) as a fast-casual option only, in part to offer new and exciting options in Blue Back Square, but also so that the two restaurants - just an 11-minute drive apart - wouldn’t compete against each other, Grecia Ludena said. 

New dishes include seco di tira, a hearty braised short rib in cilantro sauce served with tacu tacu (a pan-fried patty made of rice and beans) and arroz con pato, a duck leg dish served with rice, fried egg, and Peruvian huacaina sauce (made with ají amarillo and queso fresco.) Macarena Ludena also added a dish of pollo con piña, chicken thighs in a pineapple-soy reduction glaze served with fried rice, a family-favorite recipe that has been selling well at the new location.

The Blue Back Square menu also offers various ceviche preparations, traditional offerings with white fish and seafood along with a vegan option with avocado and quinoa. Pastas criollas are served with Peruvian pesto or huacaina sauce, with proteins like ribeyes or pork chops. Other dishes include seared salmon over quinoa cooked risotto-style, arroz marinero (Peruvian seafood rice with green peas and red peppers) and pescado bien macho, a fried fish fillet covered in creamy seafood sauce. 

The new location features a full bar program, with signature cocktails like La Patrona (pisco with passion fruit, dragonfruit, and Grand Marnier), the Cora Punch (bourbon, vermouth rosso, moonshine, lemon, toasted wheat, milk and maple syrup) and the Pina Corada, with bourbon, prosecco, coconut, pineapple, basil, and almonds. Classic pisco sours are also on the menu, along with Peruvian beers, and a few Peruvian wines join the global wine list with other selections from South America.

Coracora just marked its grand opening in early February, and the team has plans to add brunch and happy hour, plus they’re looking forward to opening the expansive outdoor patio when the weather warms.

The Ludena sisters said they’re thrilled their vision has come to life in the center of West Hartford, and they’re happy to offer the sort of higher-end experience that Peruvian restaurants are more likely to showcase in cities like New York and Miami.

“We put everything into this project,” Grecia Ludena said, explaining that it’s not just a point of pride for Peruvians, but for Latin cultures in general. She said she recently spoke to a Colombian customer who told them she was proud to see a Latin restaurant of that caliber.

“People assume that if you’re (serving) Peruvian or Latino food, it has to be cheap,” she said. “No, you can find the same (upscale) experience going to a Latino place. We can do it. We have the opportunity to do that now.”

Coracora is at 51 Isham Road in West Hartford. Its original location is at 162 Shield Street in West Hartford. https://www.coracoraeats.com/