What to Eat in Rio, According to a Local Chef

Farida Zeynalova: What is the one dish you must try while in Rio?

Rafa Costa E Silva: The most traditional dish is feijoada, a black bean stew with dried beef, bits of bacon, pork ears and pork feet. It’s served with white rice, kale, orange and farofa, which is like the dust of cassava. It’s a heavy dish, and if you eat it at 2pm or 3pm, you probably won’t have dinner. Try it at Aconchego Carioca [in Praça da Bandeira], run by Katia Barbosa. It’s a typical Brazilian restaurant and super-casual, a bit like you’re at the chef’s house.

FZ: Where’s your favourite place for a drink after work?

RCES: There’s a place in Leblon called Liz Cocktail E Wine. They focus on local ingredients like cachaça, which is our traditional spirit made from sugarcane juice. It’s a cute place to relax, whether you’re sitting at one of the small tables inside or outside on the balcony. I’m a big fan of their Black Negroni [with Beefeater Gin, Campari, Amaro Averna, Cinzano Rosso and coffee beans].

FZ: Is there somewhere you’d recommend for a meal with a view?

RCES: Aprazível [in Santa Teresa] serves straightforward Brazilian food with views of Rio, which I believe is the most beautiful city in the world. You eat on the top of the mountain, which means you can see half the city. They use ingredients from all over Brazil, and their tapioca is great!

FZ: Which restaurants should everyone try in Rio?

RCES: It depends on the occasion, but for fine dining go to Oseille by Thomas Troisgros [in Ipanema]. It’s quite casual, almost like a chef’s table set-up with only 16 seats, and he even has DJs playing sometimes. He uses ingredients that are local to Rio. The last time I went, I had scallops and a beurre blanc made with coffee. His father Claude, who’s French, also has a small restaurant called Madame Olympe [in Leblon]. It’s small, cosy and very romantic. Claude is one of the first non-Brazilian chefs to cook international food using local ingredients. He does seafood like nobody else, like his aged fish cooked over charcoal.

FZ: What’s your go-to bakery?

RCES: My favourite one in the entire world is The Slow Bakery [with branches in Botafogo and Jardim Botânico]. Owner Rafa Brito Pereira opened it around the same time as I opened Lasai, and we struggled together at the beginning. He has a bread called Rio Sourdough and that, with a bit of butter on top, is one of the best things you could eat in your life.

FZ: Where would you recommend for ice cream?

RCES: There’s a place called Mil Frutas [with multiple locations across the city], and it’s cool because it uses fruits that are almost impossible to find anywhere else, like cashew fruit and cupuaçu (a chocolatey, tropical fruit native to the Amazonian basin). I don’t have a lot of gastronomy memories from my childhood, but Mil Frutas always takes me back to being a kid and eating ice cream. It’s been around for a long time.