International chefs invade São Paulo with new projects

THE The nickname “international gastronomic capital” has always seemed a bit exaggerated when attributed to São Paulo, a city that nevertheless prides itself on having restaurants with cuisines from all over the world, from Angola to Venezuela.

But the pompous bet has made more and more sense as renowned international chefs have chosen the capital of São Paulo as the address for their projects, proving its role in the global gastronomy scene.

The most recent of them is Canadian Daniel Burs, who gained a reputation in the New York scene with his star restaurant Luksus after having passed through world-famous restaurants such as Noma (Denmark) and The Fat Duck (England).

He takes over the kitchen at Corrutela, a restaurant in Vila Madalena that has become known for its work with sustainability and which reopens in the coming weeks after a hiatus of almost a year caused by the pandemic – the restaurant announced its closure in April 2021.

The Canadian chef will replace César Costa, who remains a partner in the restaurant and has the position of executive chef, as he explains. “That means I follow the advice,” he jokes.

Costa says that the idea of ​​professionalizing kitchens is increasingly important, as happens in companies. “It’s normal from time to time to change the CEO. It’s how I see what we’re doing here,” he explains.

In the restaurant’s routine will be Burns, who has already dedicated himself to creating new dishes — such as cabotiã served with cashew nut cream and mustard leaves, or the polenta cracker with chicken liver mousse and radishes.

“It’s the same band, but with a new singer”, sums up Costa, for whom the arrival of his international friend only enhances the city’s gastronomic scene even more.

The Canadian chef is the newest newcomer in a flow that has intensified mainly in the last three years, when restaurants run by Mexicans, Argentines and Spaniards gained prominence in a city that has around 70,000 companies in the restaurant sector (among , restaurants and bars), according to Abrasel.

“I had already visited São Paulo and known its potential in gastronomy. But the idea of ​​now being able to come to take over a restaurant here is challenging, but very exciting”, says Burns.

For him, it is a great stimulus to deal with ingredients and a new culture, but he says that, in his view, the city is at an excellent moment in terms of offers and restaurants.

“There are very interesting concepts here, which could be in any other big city in the world, for sure”, he says. But he says he recognizes in the capital an “energy that also makes everything very authentic”. “I came with this fresh look to try to understand what I can add to an already vibrant scene”, he concludes.

Catalan chef Gerard Barberan has also been enchanted by the effervescence of São Paulo cuisine since the first time he set foot in the city. “I have no doubt that, in this sense, it is a capital comparable to New York and London,” he says.

As the executive chef of projects such as Bottega Bernacca, with Italian cuisine, and the Japanese restaurant Kuro, he is a witness to this gastronomic evolution that São Paulo is going through.

“In the beginning, it was difficult to convince the local customer to eat something different: he always wanted the same pasta, the same fish. But I have no doubt that the paulistano is much more open today, which has allowed many projects to emerge here” , believe.

Although it is still a “very difficult” city in terms of logistics and manpower, he says he is surprised by São Paulo’s potential for adaptability to new concepts.

“It’s a very dynamic, democratic city”, says Barberan, who has also just opened a cocktail bar, the Gran Bar Bernacca, in Itaim. “This is another universe that has potentially expanded in the city,” he explains. “A proof of how things have another speed in São Paulo.”

For him, the previous work of many professionals in the city, such as the Fasano group, helped to form a base for the restaurant sector in the capital, raising the level of cuisine and service that became a hallmark of the São Paulo scene.

Historically, in fact, restaurants in São Paulo developed essentially with the arrival of immigrants from countries such as Italy, Spain, France and Lebanon, who settled here and founded many of the pioneering houses in the city — which later paved the way for their own Brazilian chefs.

This openness to outside chefs continues today, but now also attracting culinary talents who deliberately chose to switch cities like New York or Barcelona to develop their businesses here.

This is the case of the Mexican Eduardo Ortiz, who, before opening Metzi, at the end of 2019, in the Pinheiros neighborhood, dedicated himself to the cuisine of Cosme, one of the most prestigious restaurants in New York, by award-winning chef Enrique Olvera.

He and his wife, Brazilian Luana Sabino, wanted to open their own restaurant and considered going to Europe to complete the plans. “But she told me about São Paulo and convinced me of the opportunity we had, since the Mexican offer is still weak in the city”, he justifies.

“I arrived and I remember that I immediately thought: ‘this is the New York of Latin America'”, he recalls, who had never been to Brazil. “It’s a fantastic city that takes hospitality very seriously.”

From a business point of view, it was a complicated beginning because of the pandemic. But Ortiz says he was impressed with the receptivity he had, both personally and in terms of the cuisine they wanted to offer.

“At first, people asked for burritos, they asked for cheddar. Gradually, we showed our proposal and I think we were well accepted. I confess that I thought this adaptation would cost us more time.”

Ortiz also says that, in terms of products, he can now find many things that are indispensable for his kitchen, such as peppers, tomatillo (a native Mexican fruit) and even nopal, the cactus that is so used in the cuisine of his country.

“You tell what you need and the producers make an effort to supply it, other chefs indicate where to find it. Brazilians welcome you very well, it’s something very particular here”, he believes.

This, according to him, is also one of the reasons that, if at first it is not what attracts international chefs first, it is certainly something that makes them stay. “I think many come for the dynamics of the city, the diversity of clientele, but stay for what I never expected to find. I can already say that I feel at home.”