In our last night in São Paulo, we met up with my partner’s friend at Nakka in Jardim. This was a sushi restaurant close to our hotel that offers Japanese fusion type food. At first glance at the menu, the items look exactly similar to anything and everything in the US. My partner was adamant that Brazilian Japanese food was much different than what I had. The friend made a reservation for 7 PM, so we were able to walk in and get seated.

A Casa do Porco (translates to House of the Pig) is a homage to pork as a whole. If you love pork as much as we do, this is a restaurant that you need to check out in Brazil. One accolade recently was that Janaína Torres was rated as “World’s Best Female Chef 2024”. The restaurant also has a Michelin green star, which means they are sustainability conscious. They control the entire food chain from farm to consumer.

Mani is a Michelin star Brazilian restaurant headed by chef Helena Rizzo and Willem Vandeven. My partner was adamant at getting reservations for this. Since the restaurant’s reservation system was a little odd at the time, my partner was talking to them through WhatsApp. Since Chef Helena Rizzo wasn’t going to be there during our reservation, she sent a birthday congratulations message thru Whatsapp to me, which I thought was very humble and extremely awesome.

My partner made a reservation for D.O.M. months in advanced because of a Brazilian chef, Alex Atala, featured on Chef’s Table. What was very attractive to me was how he is known for using indigenous Brazilian ingredients in the dishes. My partner had also contemplated bringing me to a Japanese or Asian type restaurant, but that could not really showcase what Brazil is about.

D.O.M. was rated at 53 on World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and 33 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, and it has also received a Michelin 2 Star rating.

Casa de Francisca is located in a rather sketchy part of São Paulo. The area reminds me a bit of the early pages of the Art District in Los Angeles or the early gentrification in Bed Stuy in Brooklyn. They have 2 areas, one which is a regular restaurant, and the other being a second floor space. The second floor has a very interesting, artistic space where all the views are generously focused at the stage. This was basically a meal + show package all in one.

This is our first trip together to Brazil and São Paulo together. I’ve met many Brazilians at work, but I did not have any idea what to really expect out of the gourmand food scene. Unlike New York City, many of these Michelin Star restaurants were easier to get into. My partner chose this recently rewarded Michelin 2 star restaurant, Evvai, because it was known for showcasing Brazilian ingredients in a refine way.