Hannover serves fondue in a little castle that is a hybrid of Beto Carrero and Paris 6

On top of the highest hill of the Partridges, a majestic castle stood.

The old address of a bank branch on Rua Cardoso de Almeida was given a fake granite cladding, a tower and a collection of arches, with colorful LED lighting. What could hide such a fanciful facade? An amusement park? A dungeon of unspeakable pleasures?

A little bit of all this: it’s the fondue restaurant Hannover, which was born in Moema in the 1980s with the air of an alpine chalet and despired in the aesthetics of excess since then, during which time it expanded to Tatuapé.

The recently opened Perdizes unit, according to the restaurant’s website, is inspired by the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany – this, in turn, was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland in California, in the United States. They aimed at Disney and nailed a hybrid between Beto Carrero and Paris 6.

The internal environment follows the theme of princesses and princesses. The lounge is very spacious, but without visible windows. On the walls, little maroon velvet curtains. In the foyer near the entrance, a wallpaper that emulates book spines, Rapunzel’s library.

The noblest tables are set against the walls, with fully padded seats for two, all facing the same direction and in a row, like a ghost train. The center of the room has more common tables to accommodate groups.

There is a throne — yes, a throne — at a point where all the tables can see, and the house lends a golden crown to anyone who wants to immortalize the medieval night in photography.

There are people who take the date to the little castle Hannover, which is even encouraged. It seems to me a less inappropriate program to do in the company of a child, who will enjoy these fairy tale parades. That’s why I dragged my assistant and nine-year-old son Pedro.

At least two other tables had a baby stroller leaning to the side. Families with teenagers also occupied the hall. But there were also the lovebirds.

I arrived at 7:30 pm on a Wednesday expecting to find the restaurant deserted. I found customers at six or seven other tables. An hour later, when I left, about 70% of the room was occupied. The neighborhood of Perdizes, once rebellious and alternative, has surrendered to Cinderella’s fondue, which lives in a castle just two blocks from PUC.

To fondue? Calm. The Hannover website refers in the feminine gender to the steaming pot that arrives on a stove at the table. “The fondue”. That’s how it is in French, the original language of food. But “creme” is also a feminine word in French, but nobody says “a creme” in Brazil. It continues to be “the fondue”, and the pedants who fight with swords in the castle.

Fondue is all there is on the Hannover menu. It comes in versions of cheese, beef, chicken, pork loin, chocolate, dulce de leche, in addition to a sweet fondue, white, with two centimeters of powdered milk on top.

The dish is served in some all-you-can-eat options with replacement — if the customer can handle it, endless. The complete course costs R$ 168 per person. Those between 9 and 12 years old pay half that amount. Here’s another advantage of a children’s company. The downside is that she will never split the bill with you.

I ordered the so-called classic sequence, which costs R$136, with cheese fondue and the pans full of candy.

Indiscreet that I am, I watched the group at an adjacent table feast on their meat. In this one, a rotating disc, around the oil pan, brings little pots with the sauces and side dishes: curry, banana chutney and even farofa, with identification numbers — the caption is on the menu that the customer accesses on the cell phone, by a code QR.

The kind waiter Paulo brought the cheese fondue accompaniments. In addition to the traditional stale bread (it’s meant to be that way, otherwise it will melt into melted cheese), there are smoked sausages, slices of guava and boiled vegetables: potatoes, carrots and broccoli, Pedro’s favorite.

According to Paulo, the cheeses used in fondue are gruyere, emmenthal and mozzarella. The texture is somewhat grainy, chiseled. The cheese does not form elastic threads – which denotes a proportion of starch beyond the desirable. The taste is saltier than it should be and does not refer to products from the Swiss Alps.

Pedrão was more interested in broccoli than fondue, and we were entertained by the musical program.

A violinist passed from table to table playing classics of the mela-cueca, with mechanical accompaniment. He had “Take on Me” by A-Ha, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence, and “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” by Burt Bacharach. The artistic cover charge is R$23 per person.

When the instrumentalist played “Perhaps Love” by John Denver and Placido Domingo, Pedro asked innocently, “Why are they playing Christmas music?” I almost choked on the cheese.

The boy’s face changed when Paulo brought the three pots of sweet fondue. They came with the usual fruits (green grapes, strawberry, banana and pineapple), brownies, marshmallows and churros. Pedrão ended up with dessert, while I feared that maybe he wouldn’t sleep that night.

After two mineral waters to wash the candy, we paid the bill and said goodbye to the Shreks and Fionas from the little castle. I walked home with my little dragon flying down the slope to Cardoso in the sugar breeze.