Serra da Mantiqueira is a highlight of Folha Festival with wineries and parks to spend the day

Serra da Mantiqueira is one of the highlights of the Folha Sabores da Montanha festival, an event that brings together 81 restaurants, bars and coffee shops from São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro until July 27th.

170 kilometers from the capital, the São Paulo arm of Mantiqueira covers the cities of Campos do Jordão, São Bento do Sapucaí and Santo Antônio do Pinhal, which offer a great program for a weekend trip.

You can stay in one of the cities and make a round trip to know the others. Or spend the day at one of the region’s wineries, hotels and parks, with activities for children and ecotourism.
Between one walk and the other, the tip is to enjoy the typical cuisine, which brings references from the hillbilly, Italian, German and Swiss kitchens with local ingredients, such as the trout, mushrooms, pork and cheese in the region.

In São Bento do Sapucaí, Pousada Quilombo opens its restaurant, the Trincheira, for non -guests from Thursday to Sunday. For the festival, the dish offered is the marinated roasted chip cooler with mashed potatoes (R $ 85). From the hostel, excursions for Pedra do Baú and other trails. The tour costs $ 160 for groups of up to six people.

Neighbor to the hostel, Café Dona Mariquinha serves Petit Gâteau Mineiro, made with pamonha pasta and guava stuffed accompanied by cheese ice cream (R $ 32 with coffee).

Another option is the Villa Santa Maria winery, accessible to both those who stay in Campos do Jordão and for those who come from São Bento do Sapucaí. There, the visitor can do the full tour (R $ 150), passing through the vineyards, the basement and the tasting of the brandin wines. For the festival, the house offers the brusquetas board (R $ 180), with twelve units. There is also the option of the menu harmonized in five times (R $ 395).

In Campos do Jordão, Tarugu Park is a good choice for those traveling with children. Businessman Ricardo Lenz founded the space for 45 years with the idea of ​​valuing nature and promoting ecotourism and adventure activities, such as riding, tree climbing, zip lines, cross floats and cable car.

Inside the park, he has been running for 25 years with his wife, Evadne, the Tainá-Kan restaurant, which works both a la carte and buffet. The couple offers, for the festival, the fettucine to pesto with salmon (R $ 115 a la carte or $ 191 a kilo in the buffet). Comes with pine nuts, Chilean black olives, Parmesan, Basil and Balsamic Aceto.

The park opens every day from 9am to 5pm, and the tickets cost R $ 55 per person or R $ 27.50 a half-ticket.

Also with outdoor activities, at the Hypical Golf, visitors can rent horses to make the trail through the Mantiqueira landscapes. At the top of the space, surrounded by fog on cold days, is the Osteria Darlan, from chef Bruno Darlan. In partnership with the owner of the Hypical, Sicilian Enzo Ferrantelli, the chef created a menu that integrates local products from Mantiqueira with traditional Italian cuisine.

For the festival, he offers the dessert Bacio Della Serra (R $ 71), an Italian meringue sigh stuffed with cumaru icing cream, red fruits syrup and pistachio ice cream. Among the salty dishes the highlight is Rustic Lamb Agnolotti (R $ 135).

In the same region, there is one of the oldest luxury hotels in Campos do Jordão, the English village, which maintains the charm of the 1950s, with the face of medieval castle and velvet curtains. There, the mountain trout (R $ 121) is served with black rice, almonds and asparagus.

The cities of Mantiqueira also offer tourist centers, with concentrated leisure options. In Campos do Jordão, the charming center of Capivari is illuminated with lights at night.

After dinner in the center, you can have a hot drink in the chocolate flavor, from the São Bento market, which is open to midnight. Small hot chocolate costs $ 17, and the large, $ 26.

The store offers over 250 types of chocolates, truffles and craft bars, including flavors such as pepper, cheesecake, whiskey and pudding, as well as vegan, diet and lactoseless options. The news for the festival is white truffle chocolates with crushed pine nuts (R $ 34.40 per 100 g).

Readers of the newspaper have 15% off 76 of 81 houses through the Folha Gourmet club, premium subscriber benefits club. To participate in the promotion, simply access the Category Flavors of the Mountain at ClubeFolhaguermet.folha.com.br website

Gastronomic Festival Folha Flavors of the Mountain
Until 27/7. Participating restaurants at saboresdamontanha.com.br. Benefits Club in ClubFolhaguermet.folha.com.br