JOYS

Culture

Front Row to Flavor: Dining with Chef Salazar at Sevi

22/1/26

An intimate Chef’s Table in Florence lets you watch, smell, and taste Peru come alive. No tourists, just locals, dates, and the kind of culinary magic you can only see from the best seat in the house.

In Florence, Chef Francys Salazar turns a meal into a performance, where every dish tells its own story. The Chef’s Table has four high chairs facing the open kitchen, so you are dining with the chef, almost like being in the kitchen of his own home.

Your back is to the restaurant while you watch him work, seeing every move, feeling the heat, smelling the fire, like a front row ticket to his culinary performance. The eight-course journey, reserved for just four guests, dissolves the boundary between kitchen and table. Here, each dish unfolds not from a static menu, but through real-time creation and an unspoken conversation between chef and diner, reflecting Sevi’s identity as a contemporary Peruvian gastronomic laboratory rooted in research, memory, and cultural evolution.

The eight courses unfold like a conversation you don’t want to interrupt.

It starts with Ceviche Ahumado. Meagre sashimi, smoked tiger’s milk, ají amarillo, sweet potato, avocado. Fresh, smoky, balanced. Familiar, but sharper.
Tacos Ibérico come next. Warm tortilla, Iberian pork pluma, chili sauce, avocado, onion salad. Rich, generous, slightly messy in the best way.
Polpo al Panko brings crunch and attitude. Fried octopus, anticuchera mayo, lime gel, togarashi. Street food energy, polished just enough.
With Vacio Anticuchero, the pace slows. Wagyu flank steak with ají panca, chimichurri, corn, potatoes, huancaína sauce. Comforting, deep, unapologetic.
Tacos Chiferos feel crisp and modern. Tuna tartare, teriyaki, Japanese mayo, avocado. A nod to chifa, where cultures meet and stay. Like sharp tailoring with an unexpected fabric.
One of the most emotional moments is Leone XIV. Slow cooked beef cheek with chicha de jora and ají panca, served with white rice. Dedicated to Pope Leo XIV, who lived in Peru for many years, it feels personal without trying too hard.
Ceviche Brasa returns to smoke. Meagre wrapped in corn husks, cooked on the Kamado, served simply with tortillas and rice.
Dessert closes with Il Cacao del Peru.

Sevi feels like being invited into Chef Salazar’s kitchen. It’s not a traditional Florentine restaurant. The room is filled with locals, couples on dates, people who know the city’s hidden corners. Sitting at the private Chef’s Table, with the high chairs facing the open kitchen, you watch the chef work as if you’re in his home, seeing every move, smelling the fire, and tasting a Florence few ever get to experience.