Chef
Carmelo Florido
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
i. Biography
Opening a restaurant during an economic crisis puts the practical mechanics of the trade under pressure: buying, staffing, repeatability, and the need for a dining room to justify itself before the room is full. At El Equilibrista 33, Carmelo Florido has built that justification through locality and familiar flavors handled without sentimentality. The cooking works between creative and traditional cuisine, using local product as material with range: respected, prepared with precision, and moved into new forms without cutting it off from its roots.
The Climb
A kitchen such as Casa Brito forms cooks through repetition, pressure, and decisions made at service speed. In that setting, Carmelo Florido worked as Jefe de cocina, a role defined by rhythm as much as technique: managing the pass, holding standards, and converting intention into finished plates with consistency. Chef-owner work joins two disciplines that do not always keep the same pace: balance on the plate and responsibility for the house. At El Equilibrista 33, Carmelo Florido carries both, shaping a cuisine built between memory and surprise, restraint and force, recognisable Canarian references and the reworking of those references through imagination.
Today
Creative Canarian cooking, in this register, starts from local products and familiar references, then changes the angle without breaking the line back to place. In Carmelo Florido’s cuisine, novelty is not the point. The work lands through recognition first, then adjustment: a known flavor, texture, or ingredient placed where the diner has to read it again. Sama con chorizo de Teror is one of his star dishes: sama fish combined with Teror chorizo in a surprising preparation that follows his philosophy of using the best local product and taking it to new horizons. The pairing brings sea fish and inland sausage onto the same plate, requiring enough control that intensity does not flatten delicacy. Escaldón de gofio has been called a masterpiece for its wise mixture of flavors, its fullness in the mouth, its memorability, and its refusal to lose identity. As a craft marker, that matters: richness has to stay legible, and depth has to keep its origin in view. Maki de atún con gofio is another revealing marker, cited by Florido as one of the unusual dishes he comes up with himself, using gofio as a working ingredient rather than a preserved reference. The Canarian vocabulary also extends beyond the plate. Carmelo Florido macerates local liqueurs and takes part in cocktail work using local rums, carrying the same attention to local aroma, texture, and accent into the glass.
Signature
Carmelo's signature dishes include carajacas and ceviche canario. Together with the rest of his repertoire, they underline a cuisine that keeps returning to identity while refusing to stand still.
Recognition
Carmelo Florido has received MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand for El Equilibrista 33 (2024).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Carmelo
What is Carmelo Florido's current role?
Carmelo Florido is Owner-chef.
Where did Carmelo Florido work before?
Earlier in their career, Carmelo Florido worked at Casa Brito.
What recognition has Carmelo Florido received?
Bib Gourmand for El Equilibrista 33 (2024).
