Sacramento’s city center will soon have its first Peruvian restaurant. Chicha Peruvian Kitchen & Cafe, a staple and massive success in Roseville, is coming to midtown Sacramento at 1501 16th St., Suites 101 and 102. The spaces were formerly occupied by Uncle Vito’s Slice of NY. The Midtown Chicha Peruvian Kitchen plans to open in the first week of February 2024.
Giancarlo Zapata and Marleny Chávez, owners of Chicha Peruvian Kitchen & Cafe, come with 20+ years of culinary experience they’ve built from Lima, Peru to the United States. Chef Zapata started his culinary career at the Lima Hotel Marriot and subsequently worked as Chef in Japanese, Mediterranean, Italian, and French restaurants whereas Marleny Chávez discovered her talent in pastry making as her career unfolded.
“At Chicha we make traditional contemporary Peruvian food, that is, flavors that I grew up with and learned to cook, we feel that this accompanied by good technique and presentation makes us feel proud to represent our gastronomy. Remember that Peru is a multicultural country and that is represented in our food, since we have influence, Spanish, Chinese, African, Japanese, indigenous, and Italian, imagine the fusion of flavor and color,” Chef Zapata told What Now Sacramento in an email.
In November 2021, Zapata and Chávez opened the flagship Chicha at 1079 Sunrise Ave., Suite O in Roseville. Before the midtown location opens, the Roseville restaurant will undergo major menu changes to test items that will come to the midtown location. The Sacramento location has an indoor dining area and an outdoor patio. Altogether, the restaurant can serve more than 100 people. The restaurant will adopt an unpretentious but clean and orderly design.
“Sacramento is a historic district and neighborhood, with abundant places to eat and drink, with many cafes and art galleries, it is the perfect place to introduce Peruvian food to this community, Chicha Peruvian kitchen is a different option since it has never existed before a Peruvian or Latin restaurant in this area,” Zapata said.
