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In São Paulo, Brazilian Cuisine Is Back on the Table
By SETH KUGEL for The New York Times
HERE’S a novel idea: When in São Paulo, eat Brazilian food.
Well, perhaps not so novel for gastronomes who travel to Milan for osso buco, the French Riviera for bouillabaisse or the Yucatán for cochinita pibil. But for the Brazilian business capital’s restaurant-crazy natives — who can’t stop raving about the Italian bistro Due Cuochi Cucina and are quite sure Aizomê serves the best sashimi outside of Japan — that may be an odd concept.
The abundant praise for São Paulo’s dining scene has historically focused on its global range. Brazilian food, meanwhile, is what you eat at home or in rural roadside pit stops or at restaurants serving dirt-cheap, starch-heavy lunch specials known as "pratos feitos" (literally, "made plates").
But the idea that Brazilian cuisine can hold its own is slowly taking hold in São Paulo, thanks to a new generation of chefs looking outward for technique but inward for ingredients and tradition. Attuned to the necessities of presentation by their (mostly) European training and conscious that the heaviness of traditional Brazilian dishes will never pass muster with the gym-going elite, they have created a movement that has given their own nation a new sense of pride in its culinary heritage. >>> Go to Full Story >>>