‘Pantanal’, ‘Avenida Brasil’ and other soap operas inspire recipes at a Globo restaurant in SP

Carreteiro rice refers to “Pantanal”. The cold leek soup, “Avenida Brasil”. There are also dishes and themed menus from “Chocolate com Pimenta”, “Caminho das Índias” and other Globo soap operas in the broadcaster’s new bet in São Paulo: a restaurant inside an interactive space called Gexperience, where you can taste some productions of fiction.

Since March, at the Market Place mall, in the south zone, the place has been a kind of interactive park for the station, with attractions such as the BBB confessional, the Tatá Werneck scenario and a playground for the children’s channel Gloob, for example. The soap opera food is added to them, served inside the restaurant called TV Globo Bistrô.

The space is at the back of the first floor. Ample, the room has environments that reproduce scenarios from “Amor de Mãe”, “Avenida Brasil”, “Chocolate with Pepper”, “Caminho das Índias” and “Orphans of the Earth”.

Although it also has a common restaurant area, with simple tables and chairs, you can’t escape the soap opera theme. The soundtrack is, of course, made up of hits from the productions and opening songs. But it is difficult to calibrate the “mood” with the mix of rhythms — one hour they play “Pantanal”, by Maria Bethânia, and, suddenly, a “Pump up the Jam”, by Technotronic, appears, the “poperô” that opened “Summer 90”.

In addition to à la carte dishes and the cold buffet, which starts at R$45, the main bet is the so-called themed menus, inspired by soap operas.

With them, it’s possible to eat Nina’s vichyssoise, a character by Débora Falabella in “Avenida Brasil”, at the table at Tufão, played by Murilo Benício, for example. The cold leek soup is the starter of the meal based on the production shown in 2012, which also includes a fillet medallion in wine sauce, roasted potatoes and chocolate pavé for dessert. It costs BRL 120.

In this mode, the menus are closed. There are six themed menus, which include a starter, main course and dessert and are priced between R$100 (“Caminho das Índias”) and R$140 (“Orphans of the Earth”). Even recent, the kitchen has gained new features, with a menu inspired by the super production “Pantanal”, launched last month. For R$110, customers try Pantanal-inspired recipes — which, like the soap opera, have a hint of imagination.

The meal starts with two pieces of pumpkin dumplings stuffed with jerky. The snack prepares the field for the main stage, a generous portion of carreteiro rice, also made with dried meat and smoked sausage. Widely consumed in the region, the dish is one of Filó’s gastronomic bets, played by Letícia Salles and Dira Paes, in the soap opera.

The invention is in the coconut cocada, a dessert chosen to finish the menu, although it is not exactly typical of the Pantanal. The sweet arrives at the table with a foot of moleque and mango jelly.

The kitchen at TV Globo Bistrô is signed by Sapore, a company specialized in catering to major events, such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Lollapalooza festival.

At Gexperience, Alex Fediczko is the chef in charge of the dishes. He says that the inspiration for the menus came from the plots, but also from the sets set up in the space. “For the public to feel at the house of Dona Lurdes, from ‘Amor de Mãe’, for example, we prepared a mincemeat.”

As the restaurant is one of the attractions of the Gexperience, it is necessary to buy a ticket to visit the space. But, from Monday to Friday, from 12 pm to 2 pm, access to the restaurant is free for those who want to have lunch — but entry does not entitle them to thematic attractions from the Globo universe and its sponsors.