Braca, a bar inspired by the classic carioca Bracarense, has its opening postponed in SP

Anyone who is used to observing Rio’s bohemia knows that sun, beach and cold beer are indispensable — and for 60 years an address has been part of this scenario, Bracarense, in Leblon. Now the Rio de Janeiro classic took Dutra towards São Paulo, where the Braca bar will be inaugurated, an unofficial branch of Bracarense run by Kadu Tomé, a partner in both houses.

“I’ve always had my name closely linked to Bracarense”, comments Tomé, who has worked at the bar founded by his grandfather Arnaldo Tomé, who died in 2013, since he was 15. But the São Paulo version, which was scheduled to open on Saturday, the 15th, will have the opening postponed.

The bar, which is still under construction at Itaim Bibi, had its opening postponed to the end of the month. According to the partners, the reason was not the growth of Covid-19 infections in São Paulo, but a delay in the delivery of the establishment’s beer machine.

Braca will have an open-air veranda and capacity for 120 people — more than the Rio bar, which can hold a maximum of 90 people, making the sidewalks of Leblon crowded.

Unlike many trendy addresses in São Paulo, the house will not have any renowned chef or award-winning bartender, but will seek to maintain the profile of a traditional bar, prioritizing cold draft beer, snacks and bar dishes. “We don’t want to invent the wheel, we’re just going to make the beans and rice that everyone already knows”, says Tomé.

“The idea is to bring everything that worked out in Rio”, comments the businessman, who shares the partnership with Augusto Vianna, a partner at the São Paulo bar Esquina do Souza.

According to the owners, whoever goes to Braca will not only find the snacks served at the Rio branch, but also famous foods in other bars. “We want to pay tribute to the great bars we love. We’re going to have an octopus similar to the one at Adonis bar, in Benfica, Portugal, for example. From Bracarense we’re going to bring the traditional shrimp dumpling, but we’re also going to have the meat dumpling from Esquina do Souza. Let’s put everything we like on the menu.”

Bracarense, famous among tourists and cariocas, received in November last year the title of Carioca Cultural Heritage. Already in São Paulo, Tomé says that the goal is to transform Braca into a classic in São Paulo, but without haste. “We still need to learn a lot from the people of São Paulo.”