Review: Foresta

It’s no surprise that Foresta, Rodrigo Pacheco’s conservation-focused restaurant in the Ecuadorian capital’s artistic enclave of La Floresta—with its cream-colored adobe walls, plant-adorned interiors, and hip playlists featuring Andean electronic music—feels like a dinner party in a chic greenhouse. Fresh ingredients grown in the chef’s rewilded forests and sourced from local Indigenous communities appear on a hyper seasonal and sustainable menu that blends elements from the coast, sierra, and Amazon and pays homage to Ecuador’s prized biodiversity and ancestral traditions. The innovative dishes are nothing short of spectacular: plates of grilled prawns with spicy watermelon prepared on massive volcanic rock cooktops are followed by delightful fruit-forward desserts, like creamy confit figs with goat cheese and pink grapefruit sorbet. Your taste buds will be thrilled and heart full knowing each delectable bite has positively impacted the local ecosystems and communities that made it all possible.