Brazil for Insiders

Oct 24, 2009

Testino, Donatella, Diddy and Mariah are at Rio's Oi Fashion Rocks

Tonight the Brazilian fashion world is sizzling with zillions of feverish tweets fired off commenting on the Oi Fashion Rocks fashion event in Rio. Oi, a phone company, is the sponsor of the extravaganza held at Rio's Copacabana Palace hotel and Jockey Club. Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Versace, André Lima, Lenny, Alexandre Herchcovitch and Lino Villaventura will have runway shows, while the event will also feature pocket shows by Mariah Carey, Grace Jones, Diddy Combs, Daniela Mercury, Wanessa & Ja Rule, Ciara, Estelle e Stop Play Moon.

For those who speak Portuguese, the live "coverage" is available on Twitter, just follow the #oifashionrocks hash tag (but be warned: it's more like senseless gossip and nasty remarks sprinkled here and there with nuggets of actual useful info).

Oi Fashion Rocks official website.

And more Rio fashion and shopping on this blog:

Rio's best pastry and cofee shops, juice bar and finger food

My friend and hard-core chocoholic Constance Escobar lives in Rio and spends good part of her free time eating out and testing out the city's cofee shops, pâtisseries and juice stands. She was invited by renowned mag Veja Rio to vote for the best addresses in several food categories (for their annual restaurant issue), so she dove into more taste tests, with great relish. She's been kind enough to share with us her votes and her expert and unbiased opinions. Here it goes:

BEST CHOCOLATE
Aquim

Chocolates are delicate and refined. The ganaches are expertly well-balanced. The bonbons are never too sweet.
Avenida Ataulfo de Paiva, 1321, Leblon, tel. 2274-1001. 10 am to 8 pm

BEST BRIGADEIRO
Beth Chocolates

Brigadeiros are chocolate candies that are soft and chewy and enrobed in chocolate sprinkles. A Brazilian delicacy that is completely addictive. Beth serves her velvety brigadeiros in tiny cups (pictured below), and sprinkles them with bittersweet Callebaut chocolate. First-rate.

BEST ESPRESSO
Rubro Café

Great blend of beans from the hills of Minas Gerais. Efficient baristas.

BEST BREAKFAST
Escola do Pão

A bit pricier than the competition, but makes up for that in quality. It's a veritable feast: artisanal breads, sandwiches, delicious cheese gratin, corn porridge, etc etc etc. All of it impeccable.
Rua General Garzon, 10, Lagoa, tel. 2294-0027 or 3205-7275

CREPE
Le Blé Noir

Owned and run by an expat from Bretagne. Light, golden crepes made with top-quality ingredients.
Rua Xavier da Silveira, 19, Copacabana, tel. 2267-6969. Dinner only.

PASTRY SHOP
Garcia & Rodrigues

The best selection in town: queijadinhas, tartelettes, éclairs, petit-fours; tiramisù, pastéis de Belém.... all excellent.
Rua Ataulfo de Paiva, 1251, Leblon, tel. 3206-4100 (204 lugares). 8am to midnight, daily

BAR MUNCHIES
Aconchego Carioca

The bolinhos and croquetes (fritters) made her are true icons of Rio's pub food. Be sure to try the manioc fritters with shrimp bobó, absolutely delicious. As are the feijoada croquettes.

SANDWICHES
Bazzar Café

Top-notch hot dogs, burgers, falafel sammies and croque-monsieur.

ICE CREAM
Garcia & Rodrigues

Made artisanally, its texture is unbeatable.
Rua Ataulfo de Paiva, 1251, Leblon, tel. 3206-4100 (204 lugares). 8am to midnight, daily.

JUICE BAR
Líquido

They take extreme care with their juices, divided on the menu in categories so clients know if they're made in a blender, a juicer or whatever else, and what is added to the final result. Great combos like the pineaple, lime and grape juice. All made to order, of course.

And here, a link to Veja Rio's annual restaurant edition.

Oct 23, 2009

Beauties of Tiradentes and Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais state, are praised in The New York Times

I've said this before, but I've gotta say it again: ever since New York journalist Seth Kugel moved to São Paulo, a few months ago, the already excellent coverage by The New York Times of Brazil as a whole went up yet another notch.

My theory was once again confirmed by the publication, this weekend, of yet another travel story in the Times that shuns the tired clichés of the girls from Ipanema, soccer players and party beaches. It paints a vivid portrait of a part of Brazil that is absolutely stunning and yet hardly known by foreigners: the colonial towns of Minas Gerais state.

As Kugel puts it, too many tourists miss "the Brazil that lies beyond the Christ on the hill in Rio, the eco-lodges of the Amazon and the model-flecked beaches of Florianópolis. Instead of a cross on a hill, Minas has colonial towns loaded with Baroque-style churches. Instead of vast rain forests, Minas has gorgeous mountains and countless waterfalls. And instead of beaches, it’s the home of a country cooking style famed across this nation of more than 190 million."

It's worth a read.

Oct 7, 2009

Caipirinha heaven: Academia da Cachaça, in Rio, is top bar for tasting the signature Brazilian cocktail

Every single bar in Rio or elsewhere in Brazil serves cachaça - the national sugarcane spirit - either neat or in a caipirinha (muddled with lime and sugar and topped with crushed ice). But no bar is better known for its cachaças than the Academia da Cachaça, a quaint whole-in-the-wall in the Leblon district of Rio.

The bar claims that it was the first to ever prepare caipirinhas substituting the lime of the classic recipe for other fruits, like passion fruit or kiwi. Whether true or not, the fact is this is a great place to have a taste of the true cachaças (artisanal, aged ones, and not the mass-produced harsher versions).

The bar also serves a myriad "petiscos", or finger food, like beef and cheese croquettes or jerk beef with toasted manioc flour. The full-size dishes are also quite good and typically Brazilian. Try the escondidinho (shredded chicken or cod au gratin) or the vatapá carioquinha, a more delicate version of the famous Bahian dish. Feijoada - the national dish of black beans, rice, wilted kale, farofa and orange slices - is served daily.

Academia da Cachaça Leblon: Rua Conde Bernadotte 26, lojas E/F/G - Leblon. Tel.: (21) 2529-2680 / (21) 2239-1542. Sunday-Thursday from noon to 1 am, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 2 am.

Oct 6, 2009

Aquim restaurant, in Leblon: charming spot for lunch or dinner

The adorable Café Aquim, in Leblon, is a true family business, run by the Aquim family. The chef is Samantha Aquim, who studied at the École Lenôtre and spent some time working under überchef Joël Robuchon.

At first, the focus was on breakfast and tea, and the place served incredible pastries. With time, they've shifted direction. They stopped serving breakfast and put all the emphasis on lunch and dinner - a decision that has left some longtime regulars like food expert Constance Escobar puzzled and even a bit disappointed.

At night they serve, among other things, a plateau of assorted cold canapés: foie gras cone, crusted pineaple, tomato financier and haddock savarin.

At lunchtime, they offer a few options of prix fixe:

Fórmula 1 – R$ 37,00: Appetizer and main course

Fórmula 2 – R$ 37,00: Main course and dessert

Fórmula 3 – R$ 48,00: Appetizer, main course and dessert

Fórmula 4 – R$ 60,00: Appetizer, main course, dessert, glass of Terrazas wine, bottled water and Illy coffee

At night the menu is more ambitious. Appetizers include a shrimp bisque (24 reais) and fresh heart of palm roasted whole and paired with prosciutto chips. Mains include a lamb and black rice risotto and magret of duck with almond risotto and caramelized apple.

The elegant room is done in purple, chocolate brown and gold, and the furniture was designed by Fernando Jaeger. Antiques and pieces brought from the family's travels are sprinkled throughout. Beautiful bronze branches are used as room dividers, and a white onix table with gold-leafed legs is the centerpiece of the décor.

Café Aquim - Avenida Ataulfo de Paiva 1240 – loja B – Leblon, tel. (21) 2512-4670

And more Rio dining on this blog:

Livraria da Travessa, in Rio: great bookstore in Barra da Tijuca

For those of you who choose to stay in Barra da Tijuca when you go to Rio, a good spot to visit is the Livraria da Travessa. It's located in the Barra shopping mall, but the good news is that you can take an independent elevator straight to the bookstore. It also has a café.

Livraria da Travessa: BarraShopping
Av. das Américas, 4.666
tel. (21) 2430-8100

Mon - Sat from 10 am to 11 pm
Sundays from noon to 10 pm

And more Rio dining on this blog:

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.