By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Authentic Peruvian cuisine, served up with decades of experience in the culinary field, await diners at Lomito, the town’s newest food business.

Lomito, a take-out and delivery restaurant at 2 Franklin St., is located at the site previously occupied by Chinese Takeout of Westport, according to Pilar Payano, co-owner of Lomito with her husband Segundo Mercado. It opened Saturday.

Decades ago, the corner spot was the original home of the Nistico family’s The Arrow restaurant. It later moved to a newly constructed home on Charles Street, last occupied by Mystic Market.

Mercado has spent “his whole life,” owning and working in restaurants, according to his wife. And the combined experience of the restaurant’s two chefs cooking Peruvian food — and other fare — spans more than 40 years, including many years in Peru.

The restaurant’s name is derived from “Lomo,” the Spanish word for “tenderloin,” while “Lomito” means “small tenderloin.”

A signature meal, Lomo Saltado, combines steak sautéed with onions, tomatoes, yellow pepper and a traditional sauce. Payano said it is one of the most authentic dishes in Peruvian cuisine.

The restaurant also offers the Saltado dish made with chicken, fish, shrimp, veggies or a “Beyond Meat” vegetarian version, in addition to steak, she said.

But that’s just the beginning of Lomito’s menu. 

Also offered are different varieties of Chaufa, a Peruvian rice dish; Peruvian rotisserie chicken, ceviche and other appetizers, salads, Peruvian bowls, desserts and more. There is also a menu for children. 

The couple spent four years planning their restaurant, with Mercado designing the sparkling clean interior of the small building, hiring and training nine staff members, and preparing the menu of Peruvian foods.

They are excited and enthusiastic to open the business in Westport, and already have been warmly received, Payano said.

“We’ve been feeling the love,” she said. “A lot of people have been stopping by.”

Lomito is offering a three-sauce wings special for Super Bowl Sunday — three types of wings with barbecue sauce, spicy buffalo sauce and passion fruit sauce, their house Peruvian sauce.

After debuting over the weekend, the restaurant is now open every day for lunch and dinner, “or just to come in to get a cup of coffee,” Payano said.

The couple feels “very grateful for the people in Westport. We look forward to serving the town,” she added.

Lomito, 2 Franklin St. in Saugatuck, is open Monday through Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Food orders can be placed by calling 203-557-6700, online at the restaurant’s website or in person.

Orders are delivered to customers by Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub or by restaurant staff.

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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and currently teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.