Foreign-edged openings bring even more multicultural flavor to Brazil's largest city.
Given that São Paulo has the largest Japanese-expat community in the world, as well as a huge Italian population, Attimo—which has a Japan-meets-Brazil visual style but serves tropical-tinged Italian food—couldn't really be more Paulistano. It's also housed in a Daniel Libeskind–designed building and comes from the team behind two of the city's most revered eateries, Kinoshita and Clos de Tapas. As such, it has hit restaurant written all over it.
Chez MIS at the Museum of Image and Sound is the latest offering from Franco-Brazilian posse Chez (the group behind the São Paulo outpost of Parisian boutique Surface to Air, Bar Secreto, Chez Burger, and Chez Lorena). The newcomer follows in the footsteps of its sister establishments with a striking interior design paired with cocktails and comfort food: Angled floor-to-ceiling windows divide a tropical garden from the modern dining room; the kitchen turns out gnocchi, club sandwiches, and burgers. Expect a sartorially blessed crowd and a line that stretches out the door.
For a nation that loves cerveja as much as it does, Brazil's bars don't tend to offer a great deal of variety when it comes to beer. Perhaps that explains the popularity of The Ale House in São Paulo's upmarket Jardins neighborhood. Owned by beer expert and Belgian expat Xavier Dupuydt, The Ale House pairs carb-heavy pub grub with up to 600 different brews.