had terrific varniki stuffed w meat in a mushroom sauce. hummus and tahini appetizer. and salmon…read moreceviche, which was more like a salad of cebiched salmon with lettuce and arugula. nice lunch!

France has Cassoulet. Brazil double dog dares with Fejoada (fay-zzzhwa-dah)…read more I asked the hotel receptionist where to go for Fejoada. She pointed me to Bolinha. It is the weekend and the ubiquitous Brazilian dish is their signature buffet. So everything came to the table! The 10 cuts of meat include bacon, pork chop, oxtail, pig ear, beef tongue, linguica, brisket, ham hock, and pork knuckles. The broth is brimming with collagen--so they offer salsa, hot sauce, and fresh orange slices to resuscitate your palette. Thicken the broth with toasted nut flour if you wish. There's fried sweet banana and yucca, pork rinds and crispy bacon on the side, perfect rice and shredded collard greens. Assuage your guilt with shots of house caipirinha. Think a sweeter margarita on the rocks... The very patient and sweet maitre'd offered me dessert. He's thinks he is so funny! While I have no reference to compare this example to others as it was my first taste of Fejoada, the standard is set immensely high. Not cheap at R150 total bill ($40). But this memory has been seared indelibly into my food coma'd brain. And now I understand why they have such a light dinner. Time for a siesta to recover. !!! Bring a translator (Google translate is pretty good) if you don't speak Portuguese. Inhouse WiFi available.

I live in the United States and wanted to take my husband there and when I finally did. The…read morefeijoada was bad, over priced for what it is. There are other restaurants with better feijoada em São Paulo and for a much reasonable price. We will not go back

How cute is this place?! Tucked away in a side street in Itaim lies a little heaven for chocolate…read morelovers. This tiny cafe and chocolatier has a quaint vibe and super friendly staff. They sell lots of different flavors of chocolate truffles, chocolate bark and some Brazilian treats like pão de mel. This is a great spot for a little afternoon meetup of coffee and sweets or to buy some authentic Brazilian chocolates for visitors when you get burnt out on brigadeiros. As a plus the place is Kosher so you can give the goodies to anyone at the holidays. They also make chocolates in the shape of mini wedding cakes which could be a sweet treat to give to a newly engaged couple.

Um daqueles tesouros escondidos na cidade, mas este é uma pedra bruta. Esqueça toda a onda gourmet…read moreque vivemos e vá comer um PF sem nenhuma frescura num balcão único que contorna o "restaurante" inteiro e sentado num daqueles bancos fixos no chão. O cardápio conta com dezenas de opções: massas, contrafilé ou a boa e velha combinação feijão - delicioso - com arroz junto de diversos acompanhamentos servidos sempre com um mini pão francês, farofa e uma lata do tradicional azeite português; este da mesma nacionalidade dos donos que preparam um bacalhau famoso nas sextas, mas que ainda não provei. Sucos naturais são servidos em copos e jarras num preço bem camarada, entre $3 e $7. Na sobremesa, a pedida é sem dúvida o pudim de leite ($4) que lembra bastante aquele da geladeira da vovó. O Ita é um lugar em que se come bastante e muito bem por um preço ridiculamente baixo se comparado a maioria dos restaurantes da cidade. Como recomendação fica o Paissandu: arroz, feijão, bife e um ovo frito por $12, que foi o que comi por enquanto, mas quando voltar - e não tenho dúvidas que vou - edito a review caso prove algum prato melhor.