(Condé Nast Traveller) At Mil, first you touch the earth, and then you eat from it,’ says star Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez. This ambitious project in the Sacred Valley, 3,500 metres above sea level, has to be Latin America’s most talked-about dining experience. It’s a 45-minute winding drive from Cusco, set on the edge of the ruins at Moray: huge stone depressions cut into the earth, which acted as an agricultural lab for the Incas for centuries. ‘Moray and the different ecosystems up and down the mountains have always inspired Central (his Lima-based restaurant that is currently number five in The World’s 50 Best list),’ says Martínez.

Ten years in the making, Mil is a hands-on experience. ‘You can stay all day meditating or harvesting potatoes, depending on how curious you are,’ he says. His team also works with the surrounding indigenous communities, researching and developing new varieties of crops. Even the water is local, collected from Andean snowmelt, while the celebrated Maras pink salt is sourced from nearby ancient terraces.

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