Culinary Backstreets Rio de Janeiro

28/08/2018

An octopus's garden in Botafogo

Juarez Becoza reviews the street food bar TITÚ: https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/rio/2018/tit/

Titú, a street food bar in Botafogo, is not so different from your neighbor's backyard, except for the octopus specialties that the kitchen churns out.

19/06/2018

In his latest dispatch, Juarez Becoza dissects why Mercado de Produtores, the city's first market-food hall hybrid, has been so successful since its opening in March 2017.

Located in Rio de Janeiro's West Zone, Mercado de Produtores Uptown (the Uptown Farmers Market) is the first market-food hall of its kind in the city.

02/05/2018

Gastromotiva, a project in Rio de Janeiro that trains local gang members to be chefs, is one of five culinary ventures featured in this piece on the 'social gastronomy' movement in Latin America.

Pioneering chefs from Bolivia to Brazil are stepping out of the kitchen and into public service. The 'social gastronomy' movement uses food to create jobs, prevent violence and boost economies.

18/04/2018

This CityLab story, written by CB correspondent Ciara Long, looks at the greening of Rio's favelas with community gardening initiatives and rooftop gardens.

Favela residents are turning scarce empty space into gardens that produce healthy food, filter polluted air, and soften a hard landscape.

03/04/2018

In his latest dispatch from Rio, Juarez Becoza reviews Art Chopp, a botequim in Rio's Jacarepaguá neighborhood.

What makes this spot so special is owner Diogo Gomes's massive barbecue smoker. The all black, wheeled apparatus is nicknamed caveirão ("big skull" in Portuguese), a reference to the black armored vehicles Rio's police use against the drug dealers and gangs in the favelas. But inside this caveirão, instead of a heavily armed police squad, there's only wood-smoked meat: beef and pork ribs, steaks and hundreds of burgers.

Art Chopp, a beloved botequim in Rio de Janeiro’s “far West” Zone, is perhaps best known for its burgers, which are cooked in a massive barbecue smoker.

14/03/2018

If you're looking for a daylong o**y of butter chicken, palak paneer, caipirinhas and music, head to The Maze Rio. Every Sunday, pop-up restaurant Hoje tem Curry sets up shop at this bed-and-breakfast and occasional entertainment venue.

This might be the best - and longest - Indian lunch you can savor in Brazil.

08/03/2018

"But one thing doesn’t change—" another worker interrupted him, "the difficulty of living like this for a long time."

A look at the sugar cane cutters of Brazil (via Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown)

It was on this land that sugarcane became one of the pillars of the Brazilian economy.

07/03/2018

Nothing can really make a long haul flight better, not even fine dining, but kudos to Avianca Brasil for trying to up their food game (via Bloomberg)

On tonight’s menu, there’s plantain ceviche in coconut milk with squid and shrimp. Tomorrow’s might include beef bourguignon with acai or lamb stew with Israeli couscous. If that doesn’t whet your appetite, maybe the Brazilian moqueca and squash ravioli in a bechamel sauce will.

06/03/2018

The New York Times - Travel spends 36 hours in São Paulo.

Glad to see they recognized the rich history of Arab migration to Brazil, which we wrote about in 2015: https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/elsewhere/sao-paulo/2015/levantine-sao-paulo/

The city’s treasures lie just below the surface: world-class restaurants, Brazil-class music and an ever-ebullient arts scene.

05/03/2018

Pop up Peru in Botafogo has morphed from a pop up into a full-blown restaurant, drawing crowds with popular Peruvian recipes like arroz com marisco, seafood rice. Juarez Becoza's latest dispatch from Rio:

Located in Rio's Botafogo neighborhood, Pop up Peru serves popular Peruvian food – not the sophisticated cuisine found in Lima – to Cariocas.

07/02/2018

Samba? Check
Excellent street food? Check
Creative drinks? Check

Põe na Quentinha? has quickly become one of Rio's best Carnival street parades because of its emphasis on both music and food.

Põe Na Quentinha, which means "put it in a takeout box," is one of the few Carnival street parades in Rio where the focus is on both food and samba.

24/01/2018

It's Carnival season in Rio, which means that feijoada is everywhere – at samba schools, bars, restaurants, fancy hotels, and even on the streets – and almost always accompanied by samba. Juarez Becoza shares some of the feijoadas taking place over the next couple of weeks at places like Portela, Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, G.R.E.S. Acadêmicos do Salgueiro - Original, Teatro Rival, Esplanada Grill Rio, Bar Imaculada, Academia da Cachaça and more.

Where to enjoy a feijoada, the Brazilian black bean and pork stew, and samba party during the 2018 Carnival season in Rio.

19/01/2018

This tiny, humble bar, which has a stunning view of the ocean and Leblon and Ipanema beaches down below, serves classic botequim snacks and excellent cocktails. And every two weeks, their outstanding feijoada, the flavorful stew of beans and pork, attracts people from all over the city (we have feijoada on the mind as Carnival season heats up in Rio de Janeiro).

The latest dispatch from Juarez Becoza:

Located in one of Rio de Janeiro's most scenic favelas, this tiny botequim serves up wonderful food and amazingly good drinks for the local community.

08/01/2018

The Rio de Janeiro neighborhood we're most excited to explore in 2018? Laranjeiras

We're declaring 2018 as "The Year of the Neighborhood" and, as a result, compiled the best neighborhoods to explore in the new year.

04/01/2018

"The best thing about this restaurant?" Rodrigues ponders the question, scanning the faces of smiling staff, the photos of Syrian mosques laminated to the walls and chattering customers filing in and out. "The kafta," she says decidedly.

The recipes for kafta and over 20 other menu items at Rotisseria Sírio Libanesa have remained unchanged since the restaurant's founding in the 1960s.

22/12/2017

Our Rio correspondent Juarez Becoza shares his favorite eats of 2017!

From young chicken served in a cachaça sauce to fried octopus cakes, 2017 was filled with delicious eating all over Rio de Janeiro.

15/11/2017

The weather is heating up in Rio and we've got that itch for an ice-cold beer (or two), so we thought it was worthwhile to republish this piece on Os Imortais Bar e Restaurante, a botequim with cleverly conceived food that is only a few meters away from Copacabana Beach.

A renovated bar just steps away from Copacabana Beach, Os Imortais serves up its own draft beer and unique takes on Brazilian classics.

05/11/2017

Know someone who is traveling to Rio in the next few months? Our recently updated Rio de Janeiro Eatinerary spills the secrets on what and where to eat for summer 2017-8 – it's the quintessential seasonal food guide that tells you where to eat NOW, not two years ago (and for $15, it's a steal): https://culinarybackstreets.com/product/seasonal-eatinerary/

Custom-made each new season, consider the Eatinerary CB’s own concierge service that recommends the best hard-to-find local spots and top seasonal foods

31/10/2017

Baródromo, a botequim in Lapa, offers a Carnival-like experience year-round.

Baródromo, a massive botequim in Lapa, pays homage to Carnival in Rio by offering good food, tasty beers and live samba music.

04/10/2017

The New York Times visits Mocotó Bar e Restaurante, Frank Bar, Emporio Sagarana Vila Madalena and Guarita Bar in São Paulo to explore the use of cachaça in craft cocktails.

You can read more about how this sugarcane-based alcohol is finding its way into chic circles in our 2013 article: https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/rio/2013/raising-cane-cachacas-new-day/

In São Paulo, bartenders are using a variety of cachaças (some of them vintage) to make inventive drinks — and to perfect the caipirinha.

03/10/2017

Lá na Rosi is serving up some excellent Portuguese-inspired street food on Ilha do Governador (Governor’s Island).

The colorful Lá na Rosi, which is owned by Rosiana Amaral, or just Rosi, a famous cook who specializes in Portuguese recipes, offers up some of the best street food in Rio.

20/09/2017

Praticità Carnes: Brazilian barbeque turned up a notch

Located in Barra, one of Rio’s newer (and swankier) neighborhoods, Praticità Carnes attracts suburbanites with its wide selection of meats and live music.

18/09/2017

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Junior Borges didn't come to the U.S. until he was 20. Although he was always in his mother's kitchen growing...

13/09/2017

"Since the most communist regime in the world has been causing uproar with its continued nuclear weapons testing, the Brazilians are amongst the people who do the most Google searches for information about North Korea."

Brazilians often look for stories about North Korea on the internet. One reason is a mutual entrenched distrust of the US. Researchers have been trying to dig a little deeper to find out more about the phenomenon.

12/09/2017

Classic restaurants are feeling the sting of the country's economic downturn and are having to curtail their hours as a result

O funcionamento será apenas das 11h às 19h, segundo a gerência do espaço

11/09/2017

30 amazing things you probably didn't know about Brazil

08/09/2017

Manaus, Brazil, is a city of 1.8 million deep in the Amazon jungle. Here, you'll find stunning architeture, riverfront views, world-class eating.

06/09/2017

On the holiday of September 7th, the "Encanta Rio" (Rio Delights) fair returns to Zona Sul with sixty culinary, arts and fashion stalls.

05/09/2017

"Tourists are flocking to a Brazilian beauty spot where a boulder swallows you whole before spitting you out into a dark, secret cave.
The Pedra Que Engole - or Swallow Rock - is located in Trindale, in the state of Rio de Janeiro is attracting dozens of visitors."

The Pedra Que Engole - or Swallow Rock - in Rio de Janerio is attracting dozens of visitors. Thrillseekers are letting themselves be swallowed by the rock before being spat out into the river.