BREAKFAST AT THE FASANO is in a beautiful space with creamy marble walls streaked with black – and boxy, cream leather chairs are scattered below very deco-inspired accent lighting. Although a major glass chandelier also makes the room look formal, we loved the way the space opens onto a passageway with tables set up outside where the neighbouring wall has been quirkily decorated, which adds warmth.
When traveling, we tend to eat our other meals out amongst the locals, preferring the element of discovery to formal, hotel dining. Judging by the high FASANO standard however, I am sure that the cuisine of chef, Luca Gozzani, who has worked in a 3-star Michelin restaurant and is known for his Mediterranean seafood, is superb - certainly worth trying for those who like to test the gourmet mettle of each hotel they stay in.
Getting back to breakfast here... I went for early morning runs and a swim in the ocean right in front of our hotel on Leblon Beach, and would meet Sheira in the hotel lobby before going for breakfast.
It is amazing to have tourists like ourselves having just come off the beach, sitting alongside power brokers discussing business. It just seems to work. I guess in Rio, anyone of those power brokers, may have been a jogger along Leblon, or Ipanema a few hours before !
VIA SETE 125 Rua Garcia ’Ávila is a great, healthy option in the heart of Ipanema’s shopping district. We enjoyed grilled chicken, wild rice, salads and pesto pasta under the covered patio. Everything comes with South American dipping sauce, chimi-churri, which has a parsley/chillip/bell pepper base. The combinados (combos) are all healthy - from organic salads and veggie burgers to the fruit-only desserts (except for one decadent touch – their famous brownie to go with my coffee).
We managed to get a table quite late into the lunch hour. It was teeming with locals enjoying the warm winter sun. The restaurant is outdoors and like the rest of Rio had a real energy to it.
the menu was easy to read, it had an English page to it ! There are shops all around VIA SETE so there is a buzz of people walking to and fro.
Good service, good food.... highly recommended !
Our guide Marco Branford suggested this popular restaurant in buzzy beachside suburb, Ipanema. Locals refer to it as the “kilo place” because you pay by weight. i was really some what hesitant to try the restaurant at first, but a push and shove from Sheira and in we went with Marco. It’s near General Ozorio Square, where the ‘Feira Hippie’ market takes place every Sunday. I laughed out loud when we walked in and saw the buffet, with a huge variety of homemade foods. There was every kind of dish - from typical Carioca feijoada (a kind of black bean, Portuguese sausage and pork dish originally invented by slaves) to sushi and sashimi, lamb roast, pizza and desserts. I’d recommend it because not only do you mix with everyday Brazilians but the prices are reasonable and the service is quick. We prefer not to linger over lunch; we’d rather get going so we can move on to the next thing to explore in the daytime.
This was a really fun buzzy restaurant named after the owners 2 kids!
Tried to get into Alessandro & Federico three times before we finally got a table on our last day. This just had to be good. A friend of mine from Sydney had recommended the restaurant and I was adamant to get a table. We were lucky enough to get an outside terrace table right at 1 30 pm, prime lunchtime. The service was excellent. We told them we had a driver waiting to take us touring and it seemed to work as our food came quite quickly. We had invited our guide Marco to meet us here for lunch, as we had sneaked a few hours of beach time in that morning. Marco ordered a light salad, Sheira ordered a grilled steak as a lot on the menu was bread-based, and being wheat intolerant was a little limiting. She was very happy with her lunch. I made a mistake. I ordered what I thought was a chicken salad. It arrived completely covered in mayonnaise. I feel this was my fault as I did not read the menu properly. I don’t eat mayonnaise nor do I eat crushed potato chips that were part of this unusual dish. I picked off Sheira and Marco’s plate, as we did not have time to re order. My only regret was that we were not coming back again to try something different. This great lunch-time restaurant is in the heart of Leblon. It is vibey, relaxed and well worth visiting.
Any fans of the distinctively Brazilian, languid sound of Bossa Nova music will not only know the famous 1960s song, Girl from Ipanema, but forever associate it with the beach scene in Rio. We couldn’t resist making the pilgrimage to the old Velosa café where everyday the composer Tom Jobim and his lyricist, Vinicios de Moraes saw a gorgeous schoolgirl, now known as Helo Pinheiro pass by. They immortalised her in their smash hit; I googled her one day and she still looks pretty good! (Although there is a bronzed, shriveled up beachcomber who pretends to be the original woman as a funny gimmick for tourists).
Brazilians are so proud of this song for bringing both Ipanema beach and the sensual swagger of the women who stroll there to the world that they renamed the café after the song and the street after its wordsmith. For such a place of interest for foreigners it is still surprisingly authentic: there are low prices, lots of locals and not much English spoken. You can step right into the song by catching a breeze out on the tree-lined street, sipping the same draft beers and looking at the equally gorgeous Rio beauties sway past on their way to the waves...
See a day in the life of the working Brazilians…
Rio's world famous historical cafe and bakery was the traditional gathering place for artists, intellectuals, and politicians. The Confeitaria Colombo is in downtown Rio, on Rua Gonçalves Dias.
It was founded in 1894, with the nineteenth century craftsmanship of huge Belgian mirrors; Italian marble floors; and the counters, bar, and paneling are made of Brazil's finest Jacaranda wood (rosewood), all impossible to find in today's world. You can take in the old-world grandeur while trying their coffee, pastries, baked foods, sandwiches - you name it. It goes without saying that this place knows coffee – it’s supposed to be the best in town.
Marco calls the confeitaria ancient Rio Antigo at its best and most authentic. “It's like stepping back in time - a bit or ancient Rio set in modern and very busy downtown. It gives you a glimpse of every day Rio, outside of the tourist southern zone.”
Leblon, the neighbourhood that flows on seamlessly from Ipanema, further along the beach, is a must for dinner. The streets are a grid of cafes, shops, restaurants and nightlife where it’s all happening as the night takes over. The restaurant bar, “Zuka” on Dias Ferreira street is hotel-recommended so it’s not surprising that the décor is as striking an element as the food. It has marble walls, extra-high backed chairs, low, sexy lighting and a sunken kitchen area where you can see the food being cooked and prepared – which is even more fun than usual because the presentation is so original.
You can sit at the bar in front of a massive grill to really watch the chefs show off. Each dish is a work of art - our meal was served on a slab with banana leaves - and the food is an amazing fusion of Brazilian, Asian, French and Italian flavours. It’s modern and creative, with innovative dishes like a “fettucine” of thinly stripped palm hearts and great fish. We have never seen chefs take-on so many international schools of cuisine…
I had a dinner recommendation from Jason a 23-year-old lawyer friend of mine with incredible taste... he hangs around cool places around the world, so I mentioned this place to the hotel concierge and they agreed that we should try it. While traveling, we’ll always hold out and search for better food and ambience - even when we’re starving! (Okay, Sheira goes along with my perfectionist streak as long as I get her some nibbles along the way…) When we arrived super late for our booking at tropical café, Zaza Bistro after we got waylaid shopping, we made the call that dinner would be well worth the wait.
Queues mean the food must be good and I'm naturally confident that where there’s a will, there’s a way, so stick around ! The maitre d’, Valerie estimated an hour and a half wait so we put in our time with finger food at the bar. I always ask the kitchen – work with me. “Please can you serve us something to tie us over ”, and keep those hunger pangs at bay!
I’m glad that we were patient because the eclectic interior is a delight - it’s like an amped-up version of that famous minty, Tiffany’s blue, with wrought iron detailing. We also met a great couple there who recognized us from the Fasano. Chic design hotels really plug you into the luxury circuit… He was the head of Relais Chateaux for South America, accompanied by the female marketing director of a top French hotel, who guessed the hotel that we would be staying in at our next stop, Faena Hotel & Universe in Buenos Aires. It’s fun swapping travel stories amongst people with a great knowledge of the world’s cool pit stops (I have filed away their suggestions to follow up for jonathan.said.com down the track).
Sheira and I sat outside on the terrace for a knockout, innovative meal – the best we had tried while being away for 9 days. I ordered double tuna with a huge smear of mash and gravy sprinkled with fish roe and Sheira had some really succulent beef – washed down with the fantastic Argentinean reds we were enjoying in Brazil.
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