WHERE TO EAT - Brazil - page 393

TIRADENTES Quartier Latin

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Rua São Francisco de Paula 46, Praça de Rodoviária Tel [phone]
This restaurant, just across the river from the center of town, hosts the annual gastronomic festival (see p43) . The
French-trained chef offers a menu of Franco-Brazilian cuisine, as well as Italian fare and good seafood. Their own
cultivated organic vegetables are used to make great salads, and there is a decent wine list.
TIRADENTES Tragaluz

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Rua Direita 52 Tel [phone]
Housed in an 18th-century colonial town house in the city center, Tragaluz has a menu offering a modern
interpretation of traditional Mineira cuisine. Sumptuous dishes include smoked freshwater catfish in garlic crumbs
and sweet potato. The restaurant is known for its desserts, especially the goiabada (guava paste).
TIRADENTES Theatro da Vila

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Rua Padre Toledo 157 Tel [phone]
In the heart of the town, this intimate restaurant occupies a converted colonial house. The dining room is rustic
chic, decorated with local art and crafts, and offers a sweeping view out over a little garden and the mountains
beyond. The meals are Franco-Brazilian. The little garden theater hosts performances in summer.

SÃO PAULO CITY

JARDINS & AVENIDA PAULISTA A Figueira Rubaiyat

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Rua Haddock Lobo 1738, Jardins Tel [phone] Map 4 D3
The flagship outlet of the Rubaiyat group, this serves some of the best Brazilian beef in the city. The Figueira has an
extensive menu with remarkable seafood, including fresh cananéia oysters from the oyster bar. Steaks remain the
best choice on the menu. Tables sit under an enormous tropical fig tree and the ambience is informal-chic.
JARDINS & AVENIDA PAULISTA Dalva e Dito

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Rua Padre João Manuel 1115, Jardins Tel [phone] Map 4 D3
Alex Atala, São Paulo's most celebrated chef, opened this restaurant to showcase traditional home-cooked Brazilian
dishes, such as codfish croquettes, rice and beans, and farofa (a manioc-based dish). The interior decoration is the
work of Athos Bulcão, who worked with Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer (see p302) on the design of the city Brasília.
JARDINS & AVENIDA PAULISTA D.O.M

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Rua Barão de Capanema 549, Jardins Tel [phone] Map 4 D3
Among the most celebrated chefs in Brazil, Alex Atala has been voted chef of the year numerous times by Veja
magazine. His innovative cooking fuses Brazilian ingredients with French and Italian styles, creating fantastic meals
such as the Brazilian fish filhote with tapioca or heart of palm fettuccine carbonara.
JARDINS & AVENIDA PAULISTA Gero

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Rua Haddock Lobo 1629, Jardins Tel [phone] Map 4 D3
Rogerio Fasano's other Italian restaurant in Jardins is the polar opposite of the eponymous Fasano, a highly regarded
gourmet restaurant. Gero is a restaurant to be seen in, a favorite with celebrities, the fashionable set, and the young
crowd. Diners wait at the long bar before dining on light Italian fare such as black polenta with baby squid.
JARDINS & AVENIDA PAULISTA Fasano

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Rua Vitório Fasano 88, Jardins Tel [phone] Map 4 D3
The flagship of the Fasano chain is the finest, most formal dining place in the city, with discreet dimly-lit booths.
Sardinian chef Salvatore Loi dishes out excellent Italian and French creations with special emphasis on seafood. The
wine list is among the best in the country. Live music plays in the adjacent cigar bar, Baretto.
CENTRO Ponto Chic

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Largo do Paiçandu 27 Tel [phone] Map 1 C2
This small corner restaurant is a lunchtime institution. The Brazilian equivalent of the hamburger - the bauru - was
invented here in the 1930s. The sandwich comprises a thick slab of yellow cheese, salad, and finely cut, rare roast beef
held together in a crusty French roll. A photograph of Casemiro Pinto Neto, creator of the bauru , adorns the wall.
CENTRO La Casserole

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Largo do Arouche 346, Vila Buarque Tel [phone] Map 1 B2
An intimate French restaurant and local institution founded in 1954, the dining room bustles at lunchtime and has
a fixed menu. It is quieter and more romantic in the evenings, with a French-influenced menu that has changed
little over the decades. Bouillabaisse and lamb shanks are popular choices.
CENTRO Terraço Itália

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Av Ipiranga 344, Edificio Itália Tel [phone] Map 1 B2, 1 B3
While some diners come here for the mock-Mediterranean food, most people are drawn by the spectacular view
from the observation deck out over Oscar Niemeyer's Edifício Copan and the vast sprawl of São Paulo. Come for
a light soup, or try the grilled dourado fish with oyster if you want to dine.