Travelling across the world to eat at top restaurants has become a trend. Food lovers make pilgrimages to places like NOMA in Copenhagen or Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Peru, just to experience their tasting menus, sometimes booking years in advance. Last week we only had to travel as far as Pretoria to get a similar experience. Two world-renowned Peruvian chefs were in town to share two popular food trends: fusion and foraging. Emilio Macias and Andre Patsias who have both worked at NOMA, Copenhagen and Astrid y Gaston, packed their suitcases full of ingredients and arrived in the Jacaranda City to create a 10-course tasting menu for the Peruvian ambassador, his guests and those lucky enough to secure a booking at LIFE Grand Café in Waterkloof.On arrival they scoured the hills and vales around Pretoria to forage for the rest of their ingredients. The idea was to create a meal that fused South African and Peruvian flavours, made from plants they found and ingredients we usually throw away.When I saw braised beef tongue, crispy pork skin served with pansy flowers and avocado-smeared salmon skin with coriander on the menu my enthusiasm was curbed. But the promise of a Pisco Sour cocktail - the signature drink of Peru- and an evening in the sumptuous surrounds of LIFE Grand Café got me to the table.Slowly, and perfectly paired with wine, beer, cava (Spanish champagne) and grappa we sampled morsels of the most delightful harmonised flavours I've ever tasted.But nouvelle cuisine is not for the faint-hearted, or the young. Put a delicate plate rimmed with coulis circling a dainty portion of unidentifiable protein sprinkled with gold dust in front of the unadventurous and they'll wrinkle their noses, push the plate away and order a burger. There were a few patrons that just didn't get it. But for the rest of us, oysters paired with wilted rose petals and leche de tigre (or tiger's milk, the Peruvian term for the citrus-based marinade that cures seafood) or herbal ceviche - raw sea bass in herbal granita (like slush) with sweet potato, burnt flowers and leaves (found that day) - were notes in a melodious symphony of tastes augmented by the carefully composed rhythm of the courses over the evening.Not being sweet of tooth, I was surprised that the dessert was my favourite course. Caramelised goat's milk and wild berries with yoghurt and real nasturtium leaves was the perfect pairing of sweet and savoury.LIFE Grand Café offers frequent pairing evenings with world renowned chefs. See www.lifegrandcafe.com or visit one of the restaurants, at Hyde Park shopping centre, The Club Waterkloof and Waterfall in Midrand..