Terravista, in Trancoso, Bahia: one of Brazil's best golf courses

In Brazil golf isn't exactly a popular sport, which explains the relative scarcity of good courses. Slowly but surely, however, that's starting to change. One of the newer and more beautiful courses is the Terravista, part of the eponymous gated community, located just outside of trendy Trancoso, in Southern Bahia.

The photos on their site leave no doubt: it is simply stunning, with breathtaking ocean views from almost every point on the course.

There is a Club Med attached to the course - a new and well-appointed one, at that. Non-guests pay 250 reais to play 9 wholes, or 390 reais to play a full 18. Many local hotels and pousadas offer vouchers that give a considerable discount.
Tel: (73) 2105-2104

Click here to see my complete set of Trancoso photos on Flickr

The best of Oscar Freire, in the Jardins district of São Paulo

São Paulo’s rich and famous live, eat, get their hair done and shop in the Jardins district. Its glizziest street is Oscar Freire, which runs West and cuts right through the heart of this microcosm of luxury. Many high-end boutiques have set up shop here in the last few years, including the artsy Melissa flagship shoestore (pictured above), where different artists regularly re-do the façade-cum-art-installation.

Start a stroll at Clube Chocolate — a hot megastore opened in 2004 —where luxe fashions share the spolight with the décor. The modern and light-drenched space (designed by Brazil’s architect-of-the-moment Isay Weinfeld) is decked out with white sand, palms and wavy mosaics. Style-conscious clients flock here for jeans by Citizens of Humanity and other designer duds.

You can have a dressed-up lunch at the boutique’s restaurant, or, for an authentic (and very casual) paulistano experience, head East to Frevo, the city’s most famous diner. Its sundaes, fries and beiruths - delicious roast beef, melted cheese and tomato on pita sandwiches - are legendary. It’s only a few doors down from the huge H.Stern store (the famous Brazilian jeweler favoured by Hollywood starlets, whose spokesperson is actress Ashley Judd).

But the hippest part of Oscar Freire is the Western edge, which is where some of São Paulo’s new generation of fashion designers – all, coincidentally, gorgeous and stylish girls - have opened boutiques.

Newly coined the Baixo Jardins (or Lower Jardins), this area is becoming the city’s fashion hotbed. That’s where, for example, brunette stunner and ex-model Cris Barros, for example, has her eponymous boutique. She designs gowns often spotted on hot Brazilian soap stars, like Malu Mader, when they walk the red carpet.

Only steps away, you can browse glamorous beachwear at Jo de Mer, which has a loyal following thanks to its flattering fit. Owner and designer Amália Spinardi, a doe-eyed blonde and previous fashion editor at Elle Brazil, sends regular shipments of her glam bikinis to boutiques in Manhattan and East Hampton.

A third must-see is Pollignanno al Mare, opened by well-heeled sisters Juliana and Fernanda Piva de Alburquerque. The beauties sell sexy shoes and sandals of their own design, as well as accessories.

Clube Chocolate: Rua Oscar Freire, 913, tel. (11) 3084-1500
Cris Barros : rua Oscar Freire, 295, tel. (55) 11 3082-3621
Frevo: Rua Oscar Freire, 603, tel. (55) 11 3082-3434
H. Stern: Rua Oscar Freire, 652, tel. (55) 113068-8082
Jo de Mer: Rua Oscar Freire, 329A, tel. (55) 11 3081-4232
Pollignanno al Mare: Rua Oscar Freire, 154, tel. (55) 11 3062-5046

Búzios restaurant listing, in alphabetical order

Anexo
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 500, Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel. (55-22)2623-6837

Bar do Zé
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 382 , Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel: (55-22)2623-4986

Bar dos Pescadores
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 85, box 7 (Associação dos Pescadores) (Manguinhos),
Tel: (55-22)2623-6785

Bistrot Bellavere
Rua Manoel Turíbio de Farias, 222, lj.A
Tel: (55-22)2623-2510

Bistrô Voltaire
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 412 , Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel: (55-22)2623-3448

Don Juan Rua das Pedras, 178,
Tel. (55-22)2623-2169
Argentinian-style steakhouse. Meats come from the excellent Buenos Aires restaurant Cabaña Las Lilas. Tango shows on Tuesday nights.


O Hedonista
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 2900 (Porto da Barra, Manguinhos)
Tel: (55-22)2623-0603

Pizzaria Capricciosa
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 500 , Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel: (55-22)2623-2691

Satyricon (Seafood, Italian)
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 500, Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel: (55-22)2623-1595
The owner, Miro Leopardi, is Italian. Specialties include whole fish baked in a coarse salt crust, mussels, spaghetti with shrimp.

Sawasdee (Thai)
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 422 , Orla Bardot (main pedestrian thoroughfare)
Tel: (55-22)2623-4644


Zuza
Avenida José Bento Ribeiro Dantas, 2900, lj. 5 (Porto da Barra, Manguinhos)
Tel: (55-22)2623-0519

La Maison, tiny hotel in Gávea, is one of Rio's best places to stay

Tucked away in the quiet residential neighbourhood of Gávea, surrounded by the lush Tijuca forest, the La Maison boutique inn is one of Rio’s best-kept secrets. Created by François-Xavier Dussol, who left a successful career in finance in his native france to relocate to Rio, the tiny hotel has themed suites. The Shangai is all done in reds and black, while the Tiffany was inspired by Audrey Hepburn, for example.
La Maison: Rua Sergio Porto, 58, tel. (55-21) 3205-3585

Index of Rio hotels that I recommend, by neighbourhood

Térèze restaurant brings sophistication to the dining scene in Santa Teresa, Rio,

Santa Teresa é o que é. Um bairro lindinho, antiguinho, colorido, com curvas que se cruzam, ruas de paralelepípedos riscadas pelo trilho do bondinho amarelo, ladeiras íngremes.

Por charmoso e fotogênico que seja, tem seus defeitos: fica longe da praia, pode ser perigoso e deixa muito motorista de táxi de mau humor de ter que se embrenhar nos seus labirintos.

Outro dia já mostrei fotos pra vocês de um hotel novo, o Santa Teresa, que - corajosamente, diga-se - abriu as portas em pleno Largo dos Guimarães, o coração do bairro - e certamente passou a ser o hotel mais chique do pedaço.

Tinha ficado de contar pra vocês de meu almoço em seu restaurante, chamado Térèze (na foto acima).

Pois então. Ferran foi-se do Brasil, a poeira baixou, então agora, finalmente, volto a falar do Térèze. E digo que é o primeiro restaurante chique do bairro porque o famoso Aprazível, por mais aprazível que seja, com plantas ao redor das mesas, vista panorâmica e até uma cachaçaria de respeito, tem um jeitão mais "lá em casa", nada formal.

Um dos sócios do Hotel Santa Teresa, o francês François Delort, é quem assina o décor rústico-chic do Térèze. Conseguiu o que parecia impossível: deixar o reciclado com cara de novo e luxuoso. Uma parede inteira é revestida de tacos reaproveitados de demolição. As lindas cadeiras (abaixo), com um quê de modernistas, são feitas de madeira tirada de pisos de antigas fazendas por um designer ainda meio underground chamado Rock Lane, de Minas Gerais (Rock Lane! Já viram nome mais doido?). Um parêntese: esse cara é um super achado pra quem mexe com decoração, vejam só o site dele.




Outras sacadas: galhos de eucalipto descartados por madeireiras servem como divisórias quebrando o vasto salão em vários espaços mais intimate. E óleo diesel dá um efeito sépia ao piso de cimento queimado.

O menu, bastante ambicioso, foi criado pelo chef francês Damian Montecer, ex-Clube Chocolate e ex-Payard. Tem desde camarão flambado na cachaça com purê de manga a bife de chorizo com batatas e aspargos à milanesa.

Não quero dar veredito nenhum depois de um almocinho apenas, ainda mais em pleno soft-opening, mas acho que o menu ganhará se tiver uma pegada um pouquinho mais leve, mais carioca, com menos frituras. Mas enfim: estava bom e caprichado, vejam abaixo o bife com seu aspargo "in a blanket", os chips do couvert e o camarãozão flambado:




De longe o melhor era o potpourri de sobremesas, pra dividir, que inclui um baba à cachaça (ao invés do rum), sorvete de canela ultra-cremoso e uns pirulitos de macarons meio puxa-puxa de levar a mais determinada garota de regime à perdição.



Ao reservar, peça mesa com vista para a pirambeira e os telhados de Santa Teresa. E antes de irem embora, passem no spa, logo abaixo, para conhecer ou para uma massagenzinha pós-almoço, ou, pros mais etílicos, uma grappa digestiva na agradabilíssima varanda-bar do hotel – vale a pena!



Anotem: Rua Almirante Alexandrino, 660, Santa Teresa, tel. (21) 2222-2755, www.santateresahotel.com

The best hotels in Barra da Tijuca, Rio

Be warned: Barra da Tijuca, or Barra, as it's known, is quite far from the other Rio neighbourhoods like Ipanema, Leblon and Copacabana and has a much different feel, glitzier and a tad commercial feeling. Some Brazilians like to call it the Miami Beach of Rio, which Barra fans find very insulting, of course. It must be said that it’s not all that pedestrian-friendly, as the beach stretches for kilometers on end. Here's a video that shows the beach well:




Here are the best hotels in Barra:


Sheraton Barra
Avenida Lúcio Costa, 3150 (Sernambetiba)
Tel. (55-21)3139-8000
It's got one of the best spas in town. To read more, click here.

Windsor Barra
Avenida Lúcio Costa, 2630 (Sernambetiba)
Tel. (55-21)2195-5000


Transamérica Flat Barra
Avenida Gastão Senges, 395
Tel. (55-21)2123-7000


hotel Barra First Class
Avenida das Américas, 7897
Tel. (55-21)2438-8800


hotel Royalty Barra
Avenida do Pepê, 690 (at Pepê beach, the best spot in Barra)
Tel. (55-21)2483-5373

Index of all the best Rio hotels, by neighbourhood