Joao Grinspum Ferraz, is a historian and part time foodie from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also writes about food and gastronomy in a diverse range of publications around the world and is the creator of the documentary film “Behind the Table”, which features chefs from a different places talking about culture, creativity and sustainability.
Please introduce yourself to our members.
My name is Joao Grinspum Ferraz, I am an historian and part time foodie from Sao Paulo, Brazil. I also write about food and gastronomy in a diverse range of publications around the world and have created the documentary film “Behind the Table”, which features chefs from different places talking about culture, creativity and sustainability.
Tell us about your current project.
Not much, but writing a few texts, researching the history of the Broa de Avintes, which is a Portuguese bread. Also have been focusing on the process of how creativity develop in gastronomy and comparing it with the creative process of visual arts.
Tell us about the restaurant scene in your Sao Paulo?
Sao Paulo has a very diverse scene, with lots of options. It can be a bit irregular in quality, but the city does feature some very good places. Japanese and Korean restaurants are two of the most interesting group of restaurants we have, but also Brazilian food, which is something very diverse, as it’s a huge country.
What are your three favorite restaurants in Sao Paulo and why?
My favourite restaurants in Sao Paulo at the moment are:
1) FAME Osteria, an Italian avantgarde restaurant, very creative and super dynamic, probably one of the three best restaurants in Brazil. It also has an amazing wine list and wine pairing, similar to the best ones served anywhere else in the world. The restaurant belongs to chef Marco Renzetti, and his wife Erika Andrade, the sommelier, who reproduce the structure of an osteria in a super high end place.
2) Mocotó. The jewel of Brazilian cuisine, focused on the tradition of migrants that came from north east of Brazil to Sao Paulo during the 20th century and their eating culture. It is located in an lower middle class neighbourhood and the restaurant dialogues with its location. At the same time, the chef Rodrigo Oliveira is one of the finest chefs in Brazil.
3) Aiô; contemporary food with Taiwanese influence, great food, very contemporary with a very different range of tastes from what we can usually find in Sao Paulo. Both Caiô Yokota and Víctor Valadão are great young chefs.
“Mocotó is the jewel of Brazilian cuisine, focused on the tradition of migrants that came from north east of Brazil to Sao Paulo in the 20th century and their culture.”
What’s a new restaurant or hidden gem in Sao Paulo that you think is doing great things?
Besides Aio, which I have mentioned here, the hidden gem is “Bar do Biu”. A small joint serving absolutely amazing Brazilian food with dishes like Feijoada and Baio de Dois. A must go place, very simple and not so expensive. A dive into Braziliian traditional simple restaurants.
What’s your favorite kind of restaurant and why?
I like restaurants centered around intelligent creative food. Not necessarily “show off creativity”, but places where you have a philosophy around the way things are done. Places that can dialogue with culture, terroir and not being pure folklore.
What are your three favorite food cities and your favorite restaurants in those cities?
1. Lisbon.
Prado: The place in Lisbon! One of the world's most talented chefs, with that innate talent you can’t teach. Chef Antonio Galapito has the same kind of talent and creativity that you can see in chefs such as Virgilio Martinez and Mauro Colagreco. Also great ambience and crazy good wine list.Pigmeu: A pork nose to tail restaurant (for real, not just for marketing issues) inspired by St John in London but with more freshness and creativity. Great wines as well.Essencial: a great Portuguese chef, Andre Lança Cordeiro’s, take on French old school cuisine. There's probably not a single restaurant where all those classics are so well prepared. He also takes advantage of his creativity and great Portuguese ingredients for small twists on the classics.Arkhe: Vegetarian haute cuisine, great wine list and service done by one of the most talented FOH and sommeliers in the world. Alejandro Chavarro comes from the lineage that produced sommeliers such as Pitu Roca, Jose Navarrete and many others.
2. San Sebastian.
Between the infinite locations, from pintxos places to established, well known restaurants I would shine a light over my favourite restaurant in the world.Asador Etxebarrri: There’s not much you can say besides saying its magic, it over achieves perfection, it's always a bit better than someone could possibly expect. Bittor Arguinzoniz in the kitchen and sommelier Mohamed Benabdallah in the wine service makes your afternoon the most memorable day for someone who cares about food.Another Basque place I really cherish is Elkano in Getaria, the fish paradise of Aitor Arregi.A favourite of mine in San Sebastian is Ganbara - the fresh produce bar/restaurant in the old town of San Sebastian with a great wine list. The food is great and there’s a lot of fun eating there.
3. Paris. Impossible to name a lot of places.
I would say my other favourite restaurant in the world is Arpege from chef Alain Passard and souschef Anthony Beldroega. It's another magical place, one that always over exceeds expectations and always takes you out of your comfort zone. If you’re into cuisine, vegetables and not much but well prepared proteins, that's your place.Besides Arpege, Yam’Tcha and Septime are my favourites, both different and amazing 100/100 in what their purposes are. Both are most go’s.
4. Tarrytown, NY.
Of course those mentioned are the big cities, but I could add just a little bit more and include the great Tarrytown, NY. Having Blue Hill at Stone Barns within the city limits makes the trip worthwhile. Chef Dan Barber is also a genius and one of the most influential chefs (side by side with Bittor Argunzoniz of Asador Etxebarri and Alain Passard of Arpege). Another of my all time favourite places.
What is your favorite dish and where is your favorite restaurant to have it?
My best ever dish was kidneys with vin jaune sauce at l’Arpege in Paris. Also the pigeon I had back in 2018 at Mirazur in Menton. Also the whole tasting menu at Etxebarri, the perennial best meal for me.
Who is an up-and-coming chef you are keeping an eye on?
Antonio Galapito. A genius, intuitive and brilliant chef of Prado Restaurante in Lisbon. Unfortunately Portugal is a bit hidden behind Spain in all those lists and rankings. That’s a shame because Antonio Galapito stand side by side with the very best from anywhere.
Who is a food expert whose restaurant recommendations you’d like to see?
Paolo Vizzari, Kaja Sajovic, Andrea de Rosa, Margaret Lam and Jose Luiz Torres Jr (from Brazil).
