Brazil for Insiders

Apr 30, 2009

Index of all Bahia posts, by town

Salvador

Barra Grande

All the best restaurants and beach bars

Trancoso

Salvador, Bahia: the 5 best tips for visitors

Photos: Constance Escobar

My friend Constance Escobar, who is a Rio-based foodie, just got back from a trip to Salvador, the capital of Bahia. She's got impeccable taste and was kind enough to share with us her 5 top tips.

Salvador by Constance Escobar

Every city has its must-sees, or “les incontournables” - but I admit that my must-sees are often quite different from everyone else's. On my first day in Paris I surely didn't run to the the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, but preferred to visit the pastry shops Ladurée and Pierre Hermé - my cup of tea. Same goes for Salvador. Instead of lunching at perennial favourite Dadá, which has become a bit of a tourist den, I chose to go instead to Paraíso Tropical, where I ate the best moqueca (seafood and coconut milk stew) of my life.

Here are my top 5:

1 - Lunch at Paraíso Tropical
Best food in town. Very simple, but serves amazing moquecas.
Rua Edgar Loureiro, 98-B (Cabula), tel. (71) 3384-7464

2 - Lunch Amado
Not only is the food marvellous, but you eat with a stunning view of Todos os Santos Bay.
Amado: Av. Contorno, 660, Cidade Baixa, Tel. (55-71)3322-3520

3 - Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia
From Amado, it's an easy stroll to Solar do Unhão, where a historic manor houses the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia. Fantastic spot.
Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia: Avenida Contorno, s/n, tel. (71) 3117-6141

4 - Old Downtown, a.k.a. Pelourinho
Cobbled streets, colonial candy-colored houses, magical atmosphere. Make time for a stop at the Le Glacier Laporte ice cream shop or have a tapioca milk shake at Sorveteria da Ribeira.

5- Convento do Carmo
Poshest hotel in town, set, as the name implies, in an old monastery.
Convento do Carmo: Rua do Carmo, 1, tel. (71) 3327-8400

Gisele on the cover of V magazine's summer swimsuit issue

Brazilian models show no sign of falling out of vogue. Still not tired of Gisele on mag covers? Then check out the brand new V swimsuit issue.

V59 is the first ever swimsuit issue - and was photographed entirely by Mario Testino, and including the best bodies in the biz—from Daria to David Gandy, Naomi to Natalia, and every Kate, Gisele, Carmen, and Carolyn in between. Here's a video preview of it, edited by Tiffany Chang and, as soundtrack, "Let's Buy Happiness" by Boys Noize:

Apr 29, 2009

Gaston Acurio opens a La Mar in São Paulo, his first restaurant in Brazil

Gaston Acurio is definitely the most ambicious and self-assured chef working today in Latin America. Even Alex Atala doesn't come close. The man is on a mission to get the world hooked on Peruvian cuisine, which he plans to achieve by opening restaurants in as many world capitals and the markets' meltdown will allow.

Last week he opened the first Acurio restaurant in Brazil. The La Mar Cebicheria is in the
trendy Itaim district.
Needless to say, the big draw are the cebiches (a.k.a. ceviches), like the mixed seafood one pictured below.

He opened the first La Mar in Lima, in 2004 em Lima. It now has branches in San Francisco, Santiago, Costa Rica and Mexico City.

Some of the cebiches on the menu are:
Clássico (robalo) R$35
Criollo (manjuba, octopus and mussels in leche de tigre criolla) R$30
Elegante (fish and shellfish in leche de tigre spiked with rocoto- a mild pepper sauce) R$39

And also:
Tiraditos
Laqueado (grilled tuna, passion fruit salsa, honey) R$34
Trio (tuna, salmon, corvina, each topped with a different sauce: aji amarillo, aji panca e aji rocoto) R$36.

The design, said to be inspired by the beach but in actual fact quite urban-looking, was done by two Peruvian architects. They tried to stick to natural materials: iron, cement, bamboo, wood, stone.

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
Rua Tabapuã, 1410 – Jardins
Tel.: (11) 3073-1213

Apr 28, 2009

The great Portuguese winemaker Luis Pato is in São Paulo

Wine importer Mistral has invited Luis Pato to lead a tasting dinner at São Paulo's famed Portuguese restaurant Antiquarius, May 4.

Known as the “revolutionary of the Bairrada”, he's considered a living legend in Portugal.
and described by wine writer Jancis Robinson as a “visionary”.

Here's what will be poured:

● Espumante Touriga Nacional rosado bruto
● Vinhas Velhas branco 2007
● Vinhas Velhas tinto 2005
● Quinta do Ribeirinho Primeira Escolha 2003
● Vinha Pan 2003
● Quinta do Ribeirinho Pé Franco 2005
● Graham’s Six Grapes (with dessert)

And on the menu there will be:

- the heavenly classic amuse bouches of Antiquarius
- Açorda de bacalhau
- Rice with duck
- Lamb shank with potatoes
- Toucinho do céu almond and yolk tart.

Restaurante Antiquarius
Alameda Lorena, 1884 - Jardins - São Paulo
Price: R$ 460 per person
Reservations: (11) 3372 3401

More dining in São Paulo on this blog:

Alex Atala:

Coffee Shops, Pastry Shops, snacks:

Nespresso boutique, Jardins

Japanese restaurants:

Snoop Dog music video showcases Rio: favelas, hot women, beaches

Channel-flipping last night, sudenly... BAM! A typical Rio kid running through the alleyway of a favela. Hey, hold on a second, that's Rio! And there's Snoop Dog, sitting on the tiled steps of the Lapa district! What the...?!

The video is great, and shows the city better than many websites out there, plus a whole lotta Rio ass, but... it ain't exactly new. Still, definitely worth a watch, here goes:

Writer and photographer Antonella Kann, globetrotter since birth, has been covering travel for 15 years. She contributes to several Brazilian and international magazines, such as the TAM and TAP inflights, Destinations (New Zealand), Rio's O GLOBO newspaper. She has a column in IATE magazine, about nautical travel. At the end of2009, she launched Instantes do Mundo, her fist photography book, with nearly 120 images taken in her last 2o years of travels. A confessed travel-addict, she still has plenty to explore.