2014 - THE BEST RESTAURANTS - SÃO PAULO

1. BEST RESTAURANT: D.O.M. & FASANO (Datafolha), MANI (Foodies)


D.O.M (By Ana Paula Boni)

Some chefs are satisfied with making good food every day. Then there are those who also fight for their causes while cooking. There are those that look all over town for ingredients. And those that go to the Amazon to see what untamed Brazil has to offer. And launch recipes that are then copied, winning awards for their trouble.

Alex Atala is all of these: researcher, cook, encouraging producers and posing for photos. He serves the very Frenck duck confit, but also filhote (freshwater fish), tapioca(manioc flour), priprioca (herb) and tucupi (sauce), all typical of the Amazonian region.

His feet are firmly set in Brazil, a bit like the restaurant, where there is an enormous French Baccarat chandelier, designed by Phillipe Starck, as elegant as his customers. However what really grabs your attention is the shabby wooden canoe brought from the Amazon, allowing an intimate look at what really moves the chef’s food and soul.

*****

FASANO (By Lulie Macedo)

The voters who elect Fasano the city’s best restaurant every year are not its exclusive clientele, nor the jury members, all foodies and experts. They are the people of São Paulo interviewed by Datafolha.

Those people may eat at cheap joints every day, but for them Fasano is at the top, even if they have never set foot on the ritzy French black marble floor of the restaurant.

Dominating the popular imagination and becoming the “top of mind” in its class is no easy feat. A brand built on excellence, Fasano has been reaping for years both the bonus of occupying the Mount Olympus of São Paulo gastronomy and the onus of not being allowed to make mistakes.

Nothing but the very best is expected from the dining experience here — and the prices are as high as the standards. From the ballet of the maîtres and waiters to the food itself, everything seems orchestrated to be impeccable. And it is.

*****

MANI (By Sérgio Dávila)

A few years ago at a dinner party with friends, the food served by the caterers caught everyone’s attention for both its quality and originality. It had been made by a young chef and served by her friend, both recently arrived in São Paulo from the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

They were Helena Rizzo and Fernanda Lima, the former currently the world’s best woman chef according to “Restaurant” magazine, the latter a Globo TV presenter — and business partners in Maní.

Helena has not lost the simplicity of those early days, nor the originality of her cuisine. From the parmesan on a stick to the lobster fideuá (Valencian paella) and “O Ovo” dessert (egg yolk ice cream, coconut meringue and crunchy coconut), everything is very good, very frequently. The lines are always long, but a sister restaurant is promised for the Iguatemi shopping mall.



2. BEST RESTAURANT YOU’VE BEEN TO: A FIGUEIRA RUBAIYAT & BABY BEEF RUBAIYAT (Datafolha)


A FIGUEIRA RUBAIYAT & BABY BEEF RUBAIYAT (By Fábio Zanini)

His excellence, the beef, reigns at A Figueira Rubaiyat and its cousin, Baby Beef. At Haddock Lobo street branch, the ancient fig tree almost obscures the restaurant’s raison d’être, the succulent, tender beef. A Ferrari parked at the door indicates that the place is expensive, and a joke is even made of it.

One of the meals is called the Stonemason’s Fillet Steak (Filet Mignon de Pedreiro) and costs R$ 99.

At the Baby Beef, the star attraction is the buffet, culminating in a grill where chunks of picanha (Brazil’s prime cut of beef), chouriço sausage and the cut that lends its name to the restaurant are barbecued to order. Also available are some fine-looking shrimps, however given the abundance of beef, I must confess that I ignored them.



3. BEST BRAZILIAN: MOCOTÓ (Datafolha), TORDESILHAS (Foodies)


MOCOTÓ (By Fabio Victor)

Yes, the Mocotó deserves all the nice things said about it. It’s a rare Brazilian Northeastern restaurant in São Paulo that satisfies both those looking for tradition and those preferring a re-interpretation, in this case that of Rodrigo Oliveira, the Paulistano son of Pernambuco migrant Zé Almeida, creator of the bodega where it all began.

Among traditional dishes is sarapatel (offals), sun-dried meat and cartola — a dessert with fried banana and cheese. Among the new ones are dadinhos de tapioca (“dices” of fried tapioca), manioc chips and cachaça (distilled sugarcane alcohol) ice-cream. Since the price is also good, the entire São Paulo middle class has discovered Vila Medeiros district. The resulting lines are a nightmare, and on weekends the wait can be up to 4 hours.

*****

TORDESILHAS (By Marília Miragaia)

Mara Salles once said that, years ago, when she received the first pirarucu (a fish) in her restaurant, she had no idea how to prepare it. What’smore, the strong smell of the dried fish made her think it had gone off. But itwas fine, she just needed to know how to deal with it.

She learned almost on her own: visiting small communities, observing how the fish was traditionally prepared and handling it professionally.

Nowadays, she prepares and serves it to perfection, alongside other Brazilian products, just like at home. Here we can experience the courtesy of Zé Lima, the pepper master, who can guess our preferences, making us feel a part of this home — a Brazilian home.



4. BEST STEAKHOUSE: FOGO DE CHÃO (Datafolha), VARANDA (Foodies)



FOGO DE CHÃO (By Leonardo Cruz)

What is it about Fogo de Chão that got it chosen the city’s best steakhouse for the fourth consecutive year? The main reason is obvious: the quality of its prime cuts. Just tasting a morsel of flank steak is enough to under stand why the venue is heaven for all insatiable carnivores.

The excellence is repeated in side dishes such as the light friedmanioc balls, the salad bars (with their fat palmhearts — soft, exotic, pornographic) and the formidable wine list.

The less obvious reason is the intense marketing that has etched Fogo de Chão into the minds of Paulistanos as a synonym for a first class rodízio (an all you can eat system in which waiters serve platters at the table).

It’s the strength of the brand that allows the chain to charge prices as fat and pornographic as its palm hearts.

*****

VARANDA (By Marcelo Quaz)


Think of a steak while waiting for your table.Or rather, think of a great big delicious, juicy steak, and that’s the way it will be. Also, one must add, because the meat is expensive in the city’s best steakhouse. À la carte cuts such as those of the wagyu breed are above R$ 200. Don’t think about that. Just think big.

Once seated, observe the international parade: an American T- bone here, a Brazilian picanha or rump cover steak there, Argentinean chorizo sausage goes by. Side orders? Rice biro biro (served with eggs and bacon) accompanied by manioc flour farofa à la Varanda. “Two will do fine”, the waiter assures us.

Now all you have to do is order and open the wine.Your time will come. When it does,just eat.



5. BEST ITALIAN: FAMIGLIA MANCINI (Datafolha), ATTIMO (Foodies)


FAMIGLIA MANCINI (By Adriana Kuchler)


For the Famiglia Mancini abundance is their middle name.So much so that my platter, a huge fettuccine with shrimps, that at first seemed expensive,ended up cheap,given that back in my own home, it multiplied into three more meals.

Here, taking a doggie bag home is nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s part of the reason why families, tourists and celebrities have been coming to the cantina for 34 years to enjoy pasta with lots of sauce but no fuss.

If you decide to enjoy the antipasti table, watch out! Among an infinite amount of cheeses, squid and olives, you risk losing your appetite for themain course. My advice: have lunch at 5 pm and avoid monster queues.

*****

ATTIMO (By Ana Estela de Sousa Pinto)


The funny part of this nomination is that the Attimo isn’t Italian. The owners label it rural Brazilian-Italian. The atmosphere is Paulistano, as natives of the city are known, and it fits well in Vila Nova Conceição neighbourhood. The music is traditional Brazilian country, the menu eclectic, like all creative cuisines aimed atmixing traditions.

Nibbles combine pork scratchings with mortadella slices. For starters, pork couscous with corn flour combined with sweet corn paste. Right below the mushroom risotto comes the tasty rice with guinea fowl.

However the fresh pastas are pure Italian. To do them justice, ask for the shrimp and crayfish raviolini and soak up the generous creamy sauce with Italian bread chunks.



6. BEST PIZZERIA: 1900 & BRÁZ (Datafolha), BRÁZ (Foodies)


1900 (By Maria Luísa Barsanelli)

The cozy atmosphere of the big house adds to the feeling of a family meal. The rustic air can be found in all seven of the chain’s branches, following the example of the original, located in a building dating from the early 20th century in the Vila Mariana district — hence the name 1900.

The toppings reveal no surprises. But you can choose from 40 varieties, divided into three categories: traditional, light or special.

The highlight here is the dough, which can be ordered in a whole wheat version; so soft it melts in your mouth.

When the pizza arrives at your table, you’ll want to pour olive oil on the crusts and eat them on their own, leaving specks of flour around your mouth. No problem — after all it’s all in the family.

*****

BRÁZ (By João Wainer)


If a Paulistano pizzaria wins the city’s top award so many times in what is considered Brazil’s pizza capital, there has to be something special about it.

To achieve it, the Bráz has opted for an almost always infallible combination: the best ingredients, a menu that mixes traditional with innovative recipes and first class service.

Simplicity matched with quality means that the pizza experience will be authentic and salutary. But all this has a price — which can be as shocking as the amount of salt in the Calabrese bread served as a starter in a restaurant that is already a landmark.


7. BEST MIDDLE EASTERN: ALMANARA (Datafolha), ARABIA (Foodies)


ALMANARA (By Danielle Nagase)

The venue on Oscar Freire street is one of the few of this brand’s restaurants to venture into the street — most are in shopping malls, except the original downtown. It is in fact just half the age of the original (founded 1950),but despite its youth follows the Lebanese tradition to a T.

No inventions in the kitchen. Esfihas are made with meat and green leaves, and the dishes are all of one size.

Start with the mezze, with hummus, curd and baba ghanoush. Olive oil a plenty on the tables. Ask for the pita bread, “order them one at a time, so they’re always warm”, suggests the waiter in the bow-tie.

The raw kibbeh has the right amount of wheat and, of the grilled kebabs, “the kafta is definitely the best, Miss”.

*****

ARABIA (by Naief Haddad)


Desserts top off a meal. But, in this case, sweets come first, or rather, “the” sweet. The knefe is one of the reasons why the Arabia is the best Arab restaurant in town. The crunchy vermicelli pastry, with fresh cream and pistachio, contrasts textures and flavors in a way rarely seen in Lebanese confectionary.

But don’t go straight to the dessert. The lamb michui will make you forget any other kebab in the city.

If you’re looking for originality, go on a Wednesday and have artichoke hearts filled with beef and snoubar (or pine kernels), covered in a curd and dried mint sauce.


8. BEST JAPANESE: AOYAMA & MORI (Datafolha), AIZOMÊ (Foodies)


AOYAMA & MORI (By Bel Freire)

In Brazil, we like the rodízio system (where portions are constantly served by waiters). We have taken it everywhere, from the steakhouse to the pizza place. Nowadays, it’s the Japanese who predominate in the “as much as you can eat” system. I suspect that, in contrast to their predecessors, the success of the Japanese has more to do with variety than with quantity.

Choosing food that we aren’t familiar with can be intimidating, where as with small portions we get a chance to try new flavors without feeling pressured.

And in this the two venues excel, serving unusual combinations — such as sushi flambé in orange liqueur at Mori or salmon and pineapple sushi at Aoyama.

Of course, the trendy atmosphere in both restaurants, filled with beautiful people, also contributes to their success.

*****

AIZOMÊ (By Alcino Leite Neto)


When daydreaming about living in paradise, I imagine what kind of cuisine I would like to enjoy for all eternity. Japanese food immediately springs to mind. And if I was given my choice of chefs, they would be Aizomê’s Shinya Koike and Telma Shiraishi.

The restaurant has the ascetic and delicate ambience of traditional Japanese venues.However, the menu is full of surprises, with signature, sensuous mutations of classic cuisine, such as those served on the tasting menu, with nine divine dishes for R$ 190.

Of course in paradise the tasting would last forever — and wouldn’t cost me a penny.



9. BEST NEW OPENING: TRATTORIA (Datafolha)


TRATTORIA (By Vinicius Torres Freire)

This Italian trattoria serves cantina-style meals; which to a Paulistano suggests home cooking,big portions and informality. But it’s also part Fasano (a local 5-star eatery). Everything is done well, with reworked, uncomplicated recipes and excellent ingredients.

The atmosphere is Paulistano minimalist, perhaps too minimalist. The cuisine is from Rome southwards, with a pinch of Genoa and another of Tuscany, there’s polpettone and carbonara. The bucattini comes with guanciale (cured pork), but with out big pieces of meat — minimalist.

It’s all very pleasant, but there’s a mismatch between the place and the food, between the dishes and the prices: R$ 40 for mini antipasti, some R$ 60 for pasta dishes and R$ 70 for the main course. It’s very good, but eat with moderation.



10. BEST AMBIENCE: CHOU & SPOT (Datafolha)


CHOU & SPOT (By Denise Chiarato)


The Spot and the Chou are worth visiting for different reasons. The Spot, in the heart of Paulista avenue, is always crammed full, tables squeezed together where everybody can be seen and heard by everyone else.

The Chou is located in Pinheiros, in a house like your grandma’s,with a welcoming backyard, a vegetable garden and wooden benches. Contrary to the Spot, this place is more for those already accompanied than those looking for someone to meet.

What they share is good food: in the Chou, the specialty is meat, with a wide variety of wines available; at the Spot, try the Oriental penne. But first, start at the bar. Mainly because you’ll have to wait. Yes, you will.


11. BEST PORTUGUESE: A BELA SINTRA (Datafolha)


A BELA SINTRA (By Manuel da Costa Pinto)

The establishment headed by chef Ilda Vinagre from Portugal’s Alentejo province has won fame with a cuisine that ranges from the traditional to the modern.

Classic recipes — octopus rice, salt-cod açorda (soup), oven-cooked codfish — are alongside more personal creations, such as duck with raspberry sauce. In all of them a lightness that brings to mind the rural background of Portuguese cuisine, also visible in the starters and convent sweets.

The sophisticated ambience and the high prices (Portuguese wines at rarely less than R$150)correspond to the excellent gastronomic delights,at the same time preserving traditional Portuguese courtesy and hospitality.


12. BEST FRENCH: ICI BISTRÔ (Datafolha)


ICI BISTRÔ (By Cassiano Elek Machado)

Thinner than any pinkie, but nonetheless not fragile. They reach the table with two attributes that many foods can only wish for: crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.They fit messily but still elegantly inside a metal dish.

They reveal little bits of their brownskin, cut in “allummette” (match stick) style. They seem perfectly assimilated into the bistro, even though their origins are Belgian.

They can be called comfort food: they may remind you of the end of afternoon at your grandmother’s, or of an autumn lunch in Paris. So full of charm and generous, even when thin, the French fries at Ici make us forget that they’re not the star attraction, but merely a side order.


13. BEST CONTEMPORARY: ARTURITO (Foodies)


ARTURITO (By Luiza Fecarotta)

Paola Carosella reigns over the fire as few chefs do. A gift inherited from the teachings of Argentinean Francis Mallmann, “the fire king”, and a childhood spent among barbecue, grill and wood-fired oven.

At the Arturito, the wood feeds a fine high temperature oven, where Paola prepares her succulent selection of meats. In addition to meat, the place is inviting for its cool, rustic atmosphere. Homemade naturally leavened bread, eggs from hens that “wake up with the sun”, fish directly from the fishmonger.

Here, she reigns with the perfection of a queen who’salso capable of training a team of servers matching the kitchen’s diligent work.


NOTAS

Datafolha interviewed 966 people, 48% are men and 52% are women. The survey held between March 12th and April 1st 2014 contemplated people in household incomes of at least five minimum monthly wages (R$ 3,620, approx. US$ 1,630 in May 2014) and who frequent restaurants at least twice a week.

Fifty foodies, restaurant critics and food columnists were asked to rank the best restaurants in their opinion. 



Compilation of articles published magazine "O Melhor de São Paulo", attached edition "Folha de S. Paulo" July, 8, 2014. Typed, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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