Traditional Ca’d’Oro hotel gains rooftop bar and fattening list of rooftops in SP

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The table is strategically positioned in front of a large glass window, from where it is possible to see pink clouds that make up the São Paulo sunset and paint the ocean of buildings on the horizon with some beauty.

We’re on the 27th floor of one of the city’s downtown medallions, the traditional Ca’d’Oro hotel, which has surrendered to one of the trends in São Paulo during these pandemic times: last week the place opened a bar dedicated to drinks on its rooftop — yes, current Anglicism for the good old terrace.

Opened in 1956 on Rua Augusta, the address was the first five-star hotel in the capital and one of the most luxurious, frequented by kings, presidents and celebrities. But, like its surroundings, it went into decline years later and, in 2009, it closed its doors.

Demolished, the old building gave way to two modern towers, launched in 2016, in a partnership with the developer Brookfield, currently Tegra. Today, the hotel shares one of them with commercial offices, while the other has apartments.

“The five-star Grand Hotel Ca’d’Oro was on a Rua Augusta that, at the time, was considered an Oscar Freire”, says Fabrizio Guzzoni, the hotel’s general director. “Today, Baixo Augusta is a younger, more bohemian place. That’s why we decided to rejuvenate it.”

In Guzzoni’s words, the bar is “the cherry on top” of this process. The new space, called Sky, occupies the space that used to be the gym, transferred to an apartment also on the 27th floor — but the bar is a few steps up. “It’s not quite the 28th floor, it’s a kind of 27 and a half”, jokes the director.

The floor is still shared with the swimming pool, which is only available to guests until 6 pm — when the bar is open, access to bathers is interrupted.

The bar opened about a year ago, but was reserved for guests, in a kind of testing period, until it opened to the general public on May 4th.

The director’s relationship with Ca’d’Oro is more than corporate. It was his grandfather, also called Fabrizio Guzzoni, who created the business from an Italian food restaurant founded on Rua Barão de Itapetininga, in 1953.

“I’ve always had the dream of creating a more funky bar in the hotel. We have the restaurant, which follows a traditional line, with the same menu since 1953”, he says. This traditional profile also ended up spilling over into Sky.

As Ca’d’Oro’s cuisine is classic, without a chef’s name that overlaps with the house’s, the same was done with the bar, which does not have a star bartender. “I wanted to value the boys that have been with me for a long time, rather than hire a new person to put their name on the bar.”

The menu lists cocktails such as the Alexander (R$38) and the Aperol Spritz (R$44). Despite valuing tradition, Guzzoni gave some drinks a more modern look, as is the case with the cosmopolitan (R$39). “Today everything needs to be instagrammable”, he reflects.

The snacks, in turn, are a kind of spin-off from the restaurant’s kitchen, installed on the ground floor. There are items such as ossobuco arancini, fried dumplings made with the ingredients of the classic breaded ossobuco served in the main hall, and bruschettas. The idea is not to offer a meal, but snacks to accompany the drink.

Despite being in front of Praça Roosevelt, a meeting point for skaters, people from the theater and all the modern fauna of the center, the atmosphere of the bar has a hint of Faria Lima. The walls are in shades of gray and white, with sober furniture and a corporate face, which should attract a suit-wearing crowd.

The opening hours also point in that direction: the house is open from Wednesday to Saturday, from 6 pm to 11 pm, ideal for watching a sunset during the after-hours happy hour.

“The bar won’t be open during the night because I don’t want to create a problem for guests who want to rest”, explains Guzzoni. But, if the intention is to extend the night, there is no shortage of options around, in the region of Baixo Augusta.

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