Anyone who rushes down the sidewalk or faces the sometimes difficult traffic in the Jardins region, in São Paulo, may not even be aware of its presence. Hidden at 2542 Rua Augusta, between Tietê and Lorena avenues, Villa San Pietro is officially located in Cerqueira César, although the region is commonly confused with Jardim Paulista.
Right at the entrance is the Italian restaurant Sughetto Cucina e Dolci. But it’s worth taking a few more steps and exploring the village’s interior — the friendly little houses arranged side by side house Barú Marisquería, the Paolo Pelone L’Artigiano jewelry store, the atelier of landscape designer Adê Moreira, the wine shop and winebar Empório Fernandes and, further down, the Bistrot de Paris.
Owner of the latter, Frenchman Alain Poletto bet in 2013 on the potential of the village, which was nothing more than a sad corner at that time. The jeweler and the Crepe de Paris restaurant were already there. “The house was going through difficulties and, under the influence of a friend, I became a partner. I can’t explain it, but the place enchanted me, I felt that my Italian father would have liked it there”, recalls Poletto.
It already looked like a European alley, according to jeweler Pelone, one of the first to rent one of the properties, in 1999. “The whole village belongs to a single owner, who has always traveled a lot to Europe and brought pictures from there, that the architects here would reproduce the Italian ‘vicolos'”, he says, referring to the alleys of the cities of the European country.
Despite this, Poletto’s restaurant caused strangeness among friends and family at first. “They asked me if I was crazy. A friend even said that his wife would never have the courage to enter that village with an abandoned manner.”
The destiny of the charming alley began to change in 2015, when the business, already renamed Bistrot de Paris, joined the Bib Gourmand list, prepared by the Michelin Guide and which indicates high quality establishments, but with good prices.
As the public arrived, other businessmen noticed the address. One of them was Colombian Dagoberto Torres, who rented a small shop, where a hairdressing salon used to be, to install Barú Marisquería.
Brothers Adair and Ailton Fernandes also came, who opened a wine store in 2017. Finally, it was chef Franco Sala’s turn, in 2018, to open Sughetto.
The houses, however, did not escape the setbacks of the quarantine. But they resisted and gained strength shortly afterward, upon reopening. In the midst of the pandemic, Sala incorporated the property next door, facing Rua Augusta, and doubled in size. Empório Fernandes made the same move last year, which also started to function as a winebar.
The bet paid off – the village now has hot tables and even queues at lunch and dinner, especially from Fridays onwards.
With an average of 700 customers per week, Torres created a remote waiting system for the seafood restaurant, which has only 26 seats, 12 in the outdoor area. Also at Bib Gourmand, the house usually attracts tourists, including foreigners.
“As reservations usually sell out early, anyone who enters the queue can wait at home. Just tell me how long it takes on the way and we’ll let you know when you can come.”
With 120 seats, Poletto says he can barely handle the up to 1,400 customers that arrive every week. The bistro tables, brought from France, already occupy four properties, with the right to a terrace for events and small wedding ceremonies.
“There are no longer any empty houses on the street and, every now and then, people come looking for them. It’s curious to think that in the beginning we suffered, nobody came in here”, he says.
The experience of Villa San Pietro can become inspiration for other alleys and galleries on Rua Augusta. Founder of Samorcc, the Society of Friends and Residents of Cerqueira César, and a resident of the neighborhood for 40 years, Célia Marcondes says that the entity is kicking off the Rua Augusta Viva project.
The objective, according to her, is to prevent commercial spaces that made Augusta famous from disappearing to make way for new real estate developments.
“Several have already succumbed, we are losing the war to developers who erect huge buildings and put bars in front. The tradition of the street being an open-air mall is disappearing”, he says. “We want to preserve the history of Rua Augusta and recover its glamour.”
What’s in Villa San Pietro
Ade Moreira Landscape Designer
Rua Augusta, 2542, Cerqueira César, west region, Loja 7, ademoreira.com.br, Instagram @ademoreirapaisagismo
Barú Marisqueria
Store 6, Instagram @barumarisqueria
Paris Bistrot
Store 12, bistrotdeparis.com.br, Instagram @bistrot_de_paris
Emporio Fernandes
Store 8, Instagram @emporiofernandes_vinhos
Paolo Pelone L’Artigiano
Store 4, Instagram @paolopelonelartigiano
Sughetto Cucina and Dolci
Stores 1 and 2, Instagram @sughetto.casa
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
