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Passionate People Of Sao PaoloPaulistanos Work Hard, Play HardBy Marguerite Jordan
Another important fact about Paulistanos is that they are very diverse in their backgrounds and outlooks. They are unlikely to chose plain anything – they crave variety. Follow the local Paulistano to his favorite place -- to eat, dance, shop or sightsee -- and you will think you have just taken a trip around the world. Every national cuisine and dance and clothing shop imaginable is available in Sao Paolo, including Japanese, Italian, French, Lebanese, German, Arabic, Mexican, not to mention of course, the specialty of the country, Brazilian.
While it does not have the great natural beauty of its sister city, Rio de Janeiro (but, then, what city does?), most people and guidebooks say the restaurants in Sao Paolo are tops in Latin America. With more than 12,000 restaurants throughout the city, you will find that you are faced with constant choices. You will find many upscale places to eat, but don’t overlook some of the small Mom-n-Pop places, and, for a change, there is even a pretty interesting chain. While visiting this city, it is a good idea to fall into the Brazilian way of dining. Breakfast light, just some of the world famous coffee and perhaps a sweet roll. The main meal of the day is almoco, which is served from about 11:30 AM to 3 PM. Dinner, or jantar, is served from 7 to 11 PM. In metropolitan areas Brazilians dine late. Plan to arrive at your restaurant about 10 PM on Friday and Saturday evening. SO, WHAT KIND OF FOOD DO YOU WANT TO EAT?
Great meats, fresh fish, unusual fruits and vegetables all make these wonderful cuisines. Taste some of the finest beef dishes in the world, but also seek out dishes made with yams, sweet potatoes, squash, peppers, beans and peanuts. If you like spiciness of say, Thai cuisine, then choose dishes that feature Bahian ingredients: malagueta, a hot red pepper, coconut milk, and dende, a kind of palm oil. Some of the leading restaurants for Brazilian food are Bargaco (Bahian food), Dona Lucinha, Minhais Gerais food and Esplanada Grillare, for great cuts of beef, pork and other meats. FOODS FROM AROUND THE WORLD If you fly Varig Airlines to Brazil in business or first-class, you may already have tasted some outstanding Japanese cuisine. One of the top three chefs the airline uses to design their menus, Gnacio Ito, works as well for the Sao Paolo restaurant Nakombi. It was established by an entrepreneur and chef, Paolo Barossi, who loved Japanese food and culture. After visiting Japan, he began ran a sushi bar from a Volkswagen bus (a kombi). It is now a full restaurant with the atmosphere of a Japanese village. Enter the Liberdad neighborhood of Sao Paolo to enjoy the Japanese culture. You will notice that the facades of food shops, luncheonettes, clothing stores and upscale boutiques all look as if they came directly from Japan, except that the signs are also in Portuguese. There are numerous Japanese restaurants, including two popular places, Nagayama and Komazushi ITALIAN RESTAURANTS A FAVORITE
Some of the most famous are Ca D’Oro, Lellis Trattoria, La Vecchia Cucina and, the one everyone knows the best, Terraco Italia. Located on the fortieth floor of the Edificio Italia, this restaurant has the most breath-taking view of all the city. Its panoramic balconies allow you to view the skyscrapers in every direction. The lunch buffet is packed with Italian specialties including grilled eggplant, sausage soup and shrimp scampi. HUNGRY FOR MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD? In the 1970’s, Sao Paulo had just two or three Arab restaurants, even though it had a large group of immigrants from the Arab world. Enter a young doctor, Alberto Saraiva, whose family had come to Brazil from Portugal when he was an infant. When he was in medical school, his father died and Alberto took over the family restaurant business. "I decided to create an Arab fast-food menu aimed not only at the Arab immigrant colony but to the Brazilian palate, with one extra ingredient: very low prices," said Saraiva. He established the first of restaurant of the now well-known chain, Habib’s. (Habib means friend in Arabic.) One of the main dishes sold are esfihas, a pastry stuffed with ground beef or cheese, a kind of Arabic empanada, and of course there are the other favorites: hummus, tabbouleh, kibbeh, stuffed grape leaves, etc. Over 150 Habib fast food restaurants are located throughout Brazil, including 73 in Sao Paolo. Now there are two other chains selling Arabic fast food, Mister Sheik and Casa de Esfiha. TARSILA, THE ARTIST & RESTAURANT; JOUBERT THE ARTIST & CHEF My favorite place in all of Sao Paolo is an unique restaurant, for in design and taste it combines artistry with cuisine in a novel way. It is named after a highly original Brazilian female artist, Tarsila do Amaral, who is sometimes compared to Frida Kahlo. Her brilliant modernistic paintings are inspiration for the talented young chef, David Joubert. The Restaurant “Tarsila” is one of those rare finds, a place that is always re-inventing its menu. It is possible to try foods that have been influenced by more than one culture, like Asian fusion. Items as diverse as the perfect steak, tagliatelle, sushi, foie gras might be found at one time on the menu. The dishes Joubert creates taste great and look as beautiful as one of Tarsila’s paintings. Joubert’s cooking career got its start when he was eleven years old . His creative edge is helped by the fact that he is constantly trying to improve his skills. Like many noteworthy chefs, he enters international competitions, often as head of a cooking team. He uses the freshest ingredients and gathers his inspiration from all the cultures of Brazil, as well as his own heritage, French and Lebanese. THE CLUB SCENE
The top area for trendy clubs is called Vila Madalena; the places are so trendy, in fact, that they come and go at will. It is wise to have your hotel call first to make sure the place you are interested in is open. Currently spots such as Frango, Elias, Barnaldo Lucrecia are packing them in. Musica Popular Brasileira, MPB, is played in some clubs, with vocalists and instrumentals playing mainly samba and bossa nova. If your Bossa Nova is a little rusty, fear not. Some clubs have accomplished dancers who mingle with the guests, giving impromptu lessons on the spot. The virtue of Brazilian dancing is that it is quite athletic and the steps, while intense, are not impossible to learn. One dancer told me, “Just lean into the music and you will pick up the rhythm.” For most Brazilians, dancing is a passion, no doubt one of the reasons so many Brazilians have such great figures. THERE’S BEER, AND THEN THERE’S FIREWATER!
But if you want to drink like the Brazilians you can choose from some mixed drinks, which, it should be warned, are quite potent. Using a variety of fruit juices, such as passion fruit, papaya or cherry, mix in some Brazilian brandy, or cachaca, made from sugar cane to make a batida. Or you can go for Brazil's national cocktail, Caipirinha, which means ‘little country girl’. Made from ‘cachaca’, ‘aguardente’ or ‘pinga’ and galego, a small Brazilian lemon, or a lime, plus ice and sugar, this drink has plenty of kick. Along the canyon of skyscrapers that is Avenida Paulista, at the end of the day, thousands and thousands of people exit their buildings, in search of a meal or a drink, and later, some dance time in one of the top clubs. On a recent trip I met several of these working women and men, each of whom seemed to have more energy than three people. I would be talking to someone who I thought to be about 21 or 22, tops, and I would later discover that he or she was in fact 39 or 40. The up and coming Paulistano works hard, yet always finds time to play hard. ENJOY YOUR PLAY TIME IN BRAZIL
Tarsila Restaurant at the InterContinental Sao Paolo SIX CONTINENTS HOTELS Six Continents Hotels, Inc. offers information and reservations capability on the Internet – www.sixcontinentshotels.com , www.intercontinental.com for Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, www.crowneplaza.com for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, www.holiday-inn.com for Holiday Inn hotels, www.hiexpress.com for Express by Holiday Inn hotels, www.staybridge.com for Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, and www.priorityclub.com.
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Sao Paolo, known as ‘The city that never sleeps’, is like that for two
reasons. One, it is the business capital of Brazil. Those who are employed
by multinational companies and working hard, also play hard – sometimes
around the clock. And, two, Paulistanos in general are outgoing and
fun-loving, and have copious amounts of energy for everything, including
dining, drinking and dancing. ALL NIGHT LONG. Check any club listing in the
Around the Town Guides and the hours are usually 11 (or even 12) until six
in the morning.
Outside of New York City or London, there is no more
cosmopolitan city than Sao Paolo. And with a lovely twist: Every time
friends come together there is a round of hugs and kisses and jokes. There
is a lot of laughter in their get-togethers, except if their soccer team is
not winning. Passion is the byword.
If you want to sample Brazilian food, and that surely is a
must, consider that there are many different popular foods from the various
regions of Brazil. Brazilian cuisines are diverse, from Bahian cooking
(hotter and spicier than other regions) to Minas Gerais (often cassava-based
foods) to Mato Grosso dol Sul churrasco and other dishes that use beans and
cuts of beef and pork.
At the turn of the twentieth century
Italians came to Brazil and found work as laborers, often working on the
many buildings that dot the landscape today. Subsequently, they or their
children began to open up restaurants. Many Italian families live in the
Bela Vista neighborhood, and here you will find a good selection of Italian
places.
Now comes the after-dinner question: Which kind of
club to go to? Jazz, Rock, Cybercafe, Samba, Bossa Nova, Cuban, Afro
rhythms? Untold numbers of bars and clubs are set on Brazilian time, and so
your evening may not get started until 10 o’clock or later. Some of the
clubs do not even open until 2:00 AM.
Brazilian bars and clubs serve many
interesting drinks. Of course, if you are dancing up a storm, you will
probably become thirsty, so beer is a good choice. There are all the usual
imported labels, of course, and then there is a popular domestic brand,
Xingu, a rich molassey drink.
Tips for the
visitor: if you want to sample the night scene and keep up with the locals,
1. Bring vitamins or, better yet, go for B-shots; 2. Fit in a nap somewhere
in your day of sightseeing and shopping. Then party with the best of them.