Eating in SP - Bread

As soon as you get your first breakfast here (or mostly anywhere in Brazil) you’ll get acquainted with our most common local bread, named here “Pão Francês,” literally “French bread.” You’ll have this for breakfast and this is the bread that will envelop your sandwich in case you choose to have one for a meal at one of our several Padarias.

 Freshly-baked Pão Francês

Slightly salty, a fine loaf of Pão Francês must be crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside… its crust should be crispy, and make a delicious noise as you bite it. Some rubbery versions may indicate that the bread is not fresh, or maybe just that the recipe is not good.

Some suggestions to try at any local padaria:

- pão na chapa (an open loaf of pão francês that receives a generous amount of butter and is pressed for some minutes on the grill where other sandwiches are prepared; a classic for a quick breakfast when you’re on the go);

A typical order: pão na chapa with coffee and milk

- sanduíche de churrasco com queijo (a nice piece of meat is grilled together with a bountiful amount of yellow cheese… if you prefer something less fatty, ask for yours “aparado”, this means the evident fat of the beef will be removed):

- sanduíche de carne-louca (a classic in old-times kids parties is now offered by some places; well-seasoned shredded beef, wet with tomato sauce, fills in a loaf of bread for that quick meal; nice with a glass of orange juice or a Guaraná).

Carne-louca means "mad meat"!!!



AVENIDA PAULISTA - Walking Along 2

Now let’s take the left-hand sidewalk. Still on r. Bernardino de Campos, at the 98, try one of the delicious juices of Bolados Sucos (the menu in this link is in English) – go for some typical tropical fruit.

This juice shop is the corner shop of a gallery that goes through the block and reaches the street behind. In case you’re missing international chains, cross this gallery and you’ll find Subway and Starbucks on the back street.

But going on to Av. Paulista, at number 37 is Casa das Rosas (House of the Roses), a cultural center with daily activities and exhibitions. Pocket shows, poetry, literature… get inside its beautiful garden and check what is on. If nothing grabs your interest, you may try the charming café. The setting somehow reminds me of the gardens of the Musée Rodin in Paris.

 The garden of Casa das Rosas

 The house itself

The café at the back - not visible from the street.

Some steps ahead, at number 149 you’ll find another cultural center, Itaú Cultural. Maintained by a huge banking institution, the site is home to more avant-garde exhibitions, usually involving new technologies, breakthrough artists, video installations, etc. Music and other performances are usually free, people just have to queue for tickets one hour before the appointed time.  The second floor is a library and the ground floor is home to a nice café.

Centro Cultural Itaú - exhibitions, library, performances, and a café.



AVENIDA PAULISTA - Walking Along

Here we are back to Av. Paulista… though we intend to explore other areas, Paulista can’t be beaten as the place to go for tourists to feel the atmosphere of the city. On weekdays, busy people hurrying to cross the streets and having lunch in 15min, men in their suits and women in high heels; on weekends, a completely different picture, the large avenue becomes a promenade where people walk leisurely heading to its movie theaters, cultural attractions, or a relaxing cup of coffee. Our proposal is to walk along the avenue and pinpoint some interesting features you may miss.

Starting from the beginning, at the Paraíso subway station (which is actually on r. Bernardino de Campos, before the beginning of Paulista), walk towards Paulista on the right-hand sidewalk and you’ll find Pça Oswaldo Cruz, which marks the very beginning of Paulista. On number 26 is Ponto Chic, a traditional sandwich bar with a 60’s feel, famous for the Bauru ao Ponto Chic, sandwich with roast beef, tomatoes and a gooey abundant mix of melted cheeses (R$ 17,90). Or go for my favorite, Seleto, which adds ham to that mix (R$ 22,10). To help it go down, ask for the lemonade; beside the large cold glass containing it they usually give you a small aluminum bucket of almost as much juice, all the precious liquid that was left in their mixer.

Make sure you order the sandwich; there is a version served as a dish, with bread aside.

It's more expensive and not the real deal.

Some steps ahead, now on r. 13 de Maio, lies the Shopping Pátio Paulista. The name is not written in large letters on its façade, but rather in small letters on a large Big Ben-like clock over the main doors. Though I talked about food courts in shopping malls here I don’t really believe a mall should be of much interest for tourists, but I also admit that many times while traveling I headed to one, especially when all I wanted was fast food and clean toilets. After a wide renovation, this mall offers a wide range of shops and fast food restaurants, and probably a dozen cafés (though I feel sitting on a table in the corridor of a mall takes away much of the charm of a café). Anyway, there are two things I recommend here. As you enter, turn left and take the escalators going down. Look for these:

- Freddo – a kiosk of the Argentine ice cream parlor. Ok, it’s Argentine, but their milk caramel (doce de leite) options are unsurpassable. A must, simply delicious. (R$ 8,50 for one scoop).

- Brigaderia – now for the local goodies… As I explained here, if you want a (very sweet) taste of local treats, brigadeiros are your article. Here you’ll find them with several different toppings, in extremely pretty and well-done wrappings.

IMPORTANT AND USEFUL INFO: On the same floor of the mall there is a Currency Exchange Shop, named Cotação Câmbio (câmbio being 'exchange' in Portuguese). Contact phone: 3285-4845; www.cotacao.com.br

 

Eating in SP - Brigadeiro

One of the most typical Brazilian sweets is the brigadeiro, a trufle-like bonbon. Originally it was a homemade treat  served basically at children’s parties, made with cocoa powder and condensed milk, cooked till a luscious creamy consistency was reached; recently  brigadeiros have become the new hype, earning exclusive shops, sophisticated wrappings and added ingredients such as pistachio, pepper, coffee, coconut, hazelnut, etc.

Some specialist shops are:

Maria Brigadeiro - R. Capote Valente, 68 - Pinheiros

Brigaderia - R. Treze de Maio, 1947 (Shopping Pátio Paulista)

Brigadeiro Doceria e Café - R. Padre Carvalho, 91 - Pinheiros

Brigadeiros by Cousin's - R. Cardoso de Almeida, 1371 - Perdizes

These shops, and also several restaurants or cafés may also offer a recent interpretation of the classic, the brigadeiro de copinho, in other words, the chocolate cream in a small  plastic cup, like you see below:

Many other delicacies are also inspired by brigadeiros, such as cakes, puddings, and ice creams.

Eating in SP- Snacks

SALGADOS

A variety of salgados

Salgados, meaning “savory thing”, is a general term to refer to a wide range of items Brazilians eat when in a hurry, or when not willing to spend money on a proper meal. Most are stuffed pastries filled with things like ham and cheese, cream cheese, chicken, sausages, or other creative things. They are usually grab-and-go items, but in some places you may sit down to taste them, together with some juice, soda, or even beer.

I’ll introduce you to some of these:

COXINHA

A mouth-watering coxinha

The translation for coxinha would be ‘chicken drumstick’. They consist of chicken bits, seasoned with onion and herbs, coated by a layer of mashed potatoes; but as they are deep fried, be careful where you eat them, otherwise you might get something too oily. But in general they are quite tasty. A famous spot for coxinhas is Frangó, a bar which is completely off the beaten track for tourists, but well worth the visit, for their food is quite typical, they have a vast range of beer brands (Brazilian and international), and the location is quite picturesque. If you will not have the chance to see small Brazilian towns, this is the closest you can get from their feel inside São Paulo.

EMPADA

Crunchy and tasty empadas



Empadas are tasty small pielike salgados, consisting of a buttery pastry filled with either shredded chicken or palm tree core, usually well-seasoned with added tomato sauce to give it some color. Though you may find large ones, the typical empada can be eaten in three or four bites. It must look somewhat glossy and golden. Prices will range from R$ 2,00 to 5,00. Other choices of filling include cod or even shrimps.

Recently some specialized shops have come up, so if you come across one of them (named Rancho da Empada, Casa da Empada, Empadaria da Vovó, Empada Caipira, etc) you might go crazy and venture yourself in dozens of fillings like meat and cheddar cheese, pumpkin and dry meat, sweetcorn, or even sample sweet ones, filled with chocolate, banana, etc etc.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Most salgados can be found at your local padaria; the food chain Viena will usually have them in miniature sizes, in case you want to experiment a little. They have a kiosk right at the entrance of Conjunto Nacional (Av. Paulista, 2073), and a restaurant at the back, on the corner of R. Augusta and Alameda Santos.



TRANSPORT - Paying for the bus in São Paulo

BILHETE ÚNICO

This is a rechargeable card that allows you to travel in as many as 4 buses in the period of three hours, using the same fare. It can also be used in the subway system; in case you paid for a bus fare within a 2 hour-period, the subway fare will be reduced to R$ 1,65 (instead of the regular R$ 3,00). When purchasing the card for the first time, you must charge a minimum of R$ 15,00 (5 bus trips) - the card itself has no cost.

- Where to get your Bilhete Unico:

Several shops will display a sign like this:



Subway stations have selling points that look like this, where you may also recharge your card. Long lines are common at the main stations.

Most places will not sell the card, but recharge it, at least. Look for the logo with the words RECARGA AQUI or RECARREGUE AQUI.

One convenient place to recharge your card (you may try buying it also, but it will not always be available) are “Casas Lotéricas” (lottery shops) that look like this:





Check a complete list of addresses where you may recharge your card.

If you finally got yours and it is properly charged, then board the bus, approach the turnstile and place the card like you see on the picture below. A green light should then flash on the top of the equipment, allowing you to pass to the back of the bus.

Eating in SP - Cheap & Good

Ragazzo

You've probably heard, or soon will discover, that eating in Brazil has become quite expensive. Ok, maybe you have money to splash, so check where to go on official tourism guides. My intention here is to give you some options if you only intend to eat honest food at reasonable prices.
Recently I was amazed to discover Ragazzo, a fast food chain that offers a wide range of choices at incredible prices for São Paulo. Even regular fast food restaurants here will be quite expensive; it's impossible to spend less than US$ 10. Average spending would be around US$15 and above.
To begin with, though they may be called a 'fast food restaurant', you sit down and order your food from waiters, and pay the bill as you leave. Italian food prevails in their menu (pasta, pizzas), but also include dishes with grilled meat, sandwiches, salgados (see post here), salads (you pick seven ingredients from a list; the small one costs about US$3), soup (a bowl for less than US$2), juices and dessert. Nothing is exceptional, but good and surely clean. And quite cheap. See their complete menu here. Though everything is in Portuguese, the menu is plenty of photos that will surely help you out when selecting your choices.
When walking around Avenida Paulista, try this one:
Ragazzo - Alameda Santos, 2209, some steps from the corner with Rua Augusta (near Conjunto Nacional).
Subway station: Consolação
Buses: any bus running along Avenida Paulista, get off in front of Conjunto Nacional (southward) or near Rua Frei Caneca (westward).