Despite being a chain, Fogo de Chao is one of the most incredible restaurants I've visited. We dined there the night before this year's Grand Prix, and although our hotel had made a mistake with our booking, they still managed to accommodate our party of ten on what must be their busiest night of the year. The service, food and wine was outstanding - there's a set menu and the gaucho waiters will keep bringing various meats to your table and carve them, until you signify you've had your fill by turning over your drinks coaster, from green (Yes!) to red (No more!). There's a wonderful salad bar and wine list, and the staff are great. Highly recommended!

www.fogodechao.com

São Paulo, Vila Olimpia, Av. dos Bandeirantes, 538
(55) 11-5505-079

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In this respect São Paulo is truly exceptional. When you see these you begin to understand the city's culinary reputation. São Paulo's street markets receive fruit and vegetables from all over Brazil and from Chile and Argentina. What is more, ringing the city are thousands of Japanese-Brazilian market gardens.

The selection of greens alone is massive: mustard, many types of lettuce, chicory, fennel, rocket, bok choy, fresh melokias (not many places outside of the Middle East where you can get it), spinach, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, watercress...stalls and stalls of massive bunches of fresh herbs: dill, mint, basil (several types), lemon grass, rosemary, oregano, coriander, parsley, sage - basically everything you can think of.

As for the fruit, it ranges from Amazonian looking stuff, to tropical: pineapples, papayas, mangoes (palmer, Tommy Atkins, small green citrus-flavoured ones, and more) and jackfruit. A good pérola pineapple when in season will impregnate the flat and your hands with its aroma for the whole day. It will be very sweet, not sharp and not fibrous. It literally melts in your mouth. Similarly a perfect mango.

There is also plenty of fruit more associated with temperate weather: apples, pears, strawberries, blackberries, plums, as well as Mediterranean-climate fruit such as watermelons, grapes and so forth.

Also at the markets: fish stalls, meat stalls, spice stalls (you can find most of the basics you'll need for curries, for example), hardware, cheap toys.

The tradition is to drink a cane-juice (with lime juice) and eat a fried "pastel" (minced meat or palm heart are my favourites).

There are markets all over the city. The ones I've used are:
Friday: Rua Sergipe, in Higienópolis, opposite Zilana. Genteel. You can stop off for excellent coffee and sweetmeats before or after at "Dulca".

Saturday: Corner of R. Helvetia with Barão de Campinas. Far less genteel. The neighbourhood used to be the administrative center of the city. Now faded and nervously on the edge of crack-land.

Sunday: Amaral Gurgel, at Sta Cecília underground station. Huge, bustling, under the flyover (flyover incidentally closed to traffic on Sundays for pedestrians to amble).

Sunday: Praça Roosevelt. A smaller version of the Amaral Gurgel one, at the bottom of Rua da Consolação. Easier to handle, but very bustling nonetheless.

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Bakery. 120-years old, belonging to the Albanese family, originally from Calabria. Wood-burning ovens. The bakery bakes 2,000 loaves a day, but the outlet is a small shopfront. Sausages and cheeses hanging from ceiling. The best calabreza sausage-bread in the city, great aubergine bread. Great, crusty and chewy Italian bread. Sfogliatelli and Portuguese pastries, Italian wines etc.

Rua São Domingos, 330 Bela Vista.

Keep going down Augusta, center-bound, until it turns into Martins Fontes. Turn right at Martinho Prado. Keep going past impressive synagogue (incidentally opposite São Paulo's oldest Lesbian bar). Turn left when you reach Santo Antonio. First on right, then right again.

Not easy to find. Never mind there are a lot of similar bakeries nearby (Bexiga) that are nearly as good.

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Deli. Santa Luzia and others are wonderful Beverly Hills/Harrods food hall style places to feel rich and maybe splash out. Zilana is a small and functional place, but full of merchandise not to be found in many of the other more chic outlets, and is usually cheaper. Several types of herring, pickles, salmon, even smoked haddock!!! Spices. Fresh horseradish. Good bread, tough rye and proper chewy bagels...

Lebanese ingredients, plus olives, dried fruit, hams, cheeses...

Good spirits on special offer. Arak, vodkas, slivovitz.

Lots of one-off promotions (the only place I've ever seen Stilton in São Paulo, but it didn't last) such as sudden gluts of Hungarian gherkins or cranberry juices.

Jewish food counter with Kreplach, stuffed chicken neck and so on.

Rue Sergipe, 231
Higienópolis
Between Avenida Angêlica and Rua da Consolação, at the lower entrance to the cemetery.

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If you want a lazy lunch in beautiful surroundings then this is the place for you. Eat in the tented covered gardens whilst enjoying wonderful caipirinhas then if you like, buy the table and chairs you have been sitting at and on. Every piece of furniture and artwork at the restaurant is for sale. Inside there is a well stocked wine cellar. The staff are very friendly and know their food and drink.

Rua Minas Gerais, 112
Higienopolis
T: 3258.6093
W: restauranteviralata.com.br

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Fantastic restaurant/bistro in the heart of the Jardims district with a well being centre upstairs. They serve modern Brazilian and International dishes that are really well put together. Both inside and outside spaces for eating. Start off with a very reasonable "Chandon" - the Brazilian champagne! Yum!

Rua Pardre Joao Manuel, 950.
T: 3082.5709
E: boa@boabistro.com.br

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One of the many tributaries running up to and across Avenida Paulista. This is a trendy part of town notable for its multitude of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. Keep your eyes peeled for the street art. There's some interesting graffiti and amusingly designed stickers to be found here. If you're hungry there is great sushi to be had at gohan cozinha oriental - R.Augusta 2542.

Rua Augusta

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Newly opened space devoted to organic food - shop and restaurant. Menu is a bit limited and they're overawed by their own tandoor, but all in all, it's a nice relaxing place to eat breakfast/lunch and the food is absolutely fresh.

www.emporiosiriuba.com.br/
Al. Franca, 1590 (Jardins)

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Tucked away in the centre of SP but one of the great food markets of the world (IMHO) in a railway-station like building dating from 1928 - best place to buy fish/meat/cheese/fruit/spices - anything edible in SP (NB if you're going to buy fish like tuna/salmon, look for the Japanese owners and ask for sashimi quality)

Has also undergone a pleasing renovation with a glass-floored balcony section that allows you to admire the stained-glass windows or watch the commotion below while eating the famous pasteis de bacalhau - a fried A4 size pasty full of shredded salt cod, or sandwiches with gravity defying amounts of ham/salami/mortadella/cheese, etc. Not very good on veg, but there is a more conventional market across the road which sells live animals.

Rua da Cantareira - Metro São Bento (turn right and go down the hill to 25 de Março, then turn left).

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This is an Italian trattoria on Rua Pamplona, off Paulista Avenue. Even though it is an Italian place, do not go there to eat pasta. The best dish in this restaurant is the salada do Sargento, a salad with several different leaves, hearts of palm, tomatoes etc. What's special about it isn't the ingredients per se (although they are spectacularly fresh and tasty) but rather the seasoning. It's a well kept secret and I've never managed to reproduce it at home.

One tip: do not order anything else as the salads are huge, even the small one - they come in small, medium and large - and are expensive considering local prices. On the other hand, I don't think anyone would wish they'd had pasta or meat instead. It really is that good. Unless you're a party of four plus, order the small one. Afterwards, a nice walk in the Jardins district and perhaps some shopping can be a nice way to end a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Rua Pamplona, maybe #70, Jardins.

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This bohemian neighbourhood restaurant serves up a varied and delicious menu. A wide selection of caipirinhas is also to be sampled ranging from maracuja to strawberry. It's worth dining out here not just for the food, atmosphere and caipirinhas but also for the reason that all the hand crafted decorations hanging from the restaurant's ceilings and walls are for sale.

Rua Joaquim Antunes, 217, Pinheiros, zona oeste;
tel: 30817204

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Tony Soprano eat your heart out. This is a treat of a restaurant amongst the many special Italian eateries around the city. Locals will tell you that the best pizza in the world is to be had in São Paulo and there's more to this place than just pizza. Enjoy the food and spot the Brasilian footballers amongst the many caricatures that adorn the walls.

Alameda Campinas, 1615
01404-002 - Jardim Paulista

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With 420 different cachacas to choose from, this bar/restaurant is able to satisfy the most demanding of students of Brazil’s national spirit. And for neophytes, the knowledgeable bar staff will happily design a program that takes you from the mildest to the strongest cachaca in four increasingly drunken steps. Passing that exam was a pleasure, although my memories of the graduation ceremony are a little hazy.

Rua Iaiá, 83 – Itaim, São Paulo – SP; tel: 11 3167 0461; www.sergioarno.com.br

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A couple of hundred years ago, John Rudge arrived in São Paulo. A farmer from Gloucestershire, he had sailed across the Atlantic to make his fortune. He bought land, planted tea and built himself a house - which is now a smart restaurant specialising in excellent Brazilian
food.

Avenida Morumbi 5594
www.casadafazenda.com.br/

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At the end of the 19th century, the abolition of slavery in Brazil coincided with the boom in coffee production. Just when the world demanded São Paulo’s coffee, the fields lacked any labourers. So millions of immigrants arrived, many from Italy, and the city now has a decidedly Italian flavour. Even the Portuguese spoken here has an Italian accent. And this is one of the few places outside Italy where the Italian restaurants are actually any good. Famiglia Mancini is always busy, and the atmosphere is a lot of fun.

Rua Avanhandava, 81
www.famigliamancini.com.br/

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A 19th century park dating back to the 2nd Empire full of German chalets that began life as an animal breeding centre and is now just a park, although it has some interesting features and seems pretty safe (not necessarily true of other SP parks like Trianon/Luz). A good Saturday morning excursion for parents with young children - swings, a mini zoo, an aquarium, at 11am usually a free open air theatre. There is also a pond full of ducks and next to it a reconstructed hut which serves traditional corn meal griddle cakes cooked over an open fire and free coffee for 25p each.

Also worth noting is the farmer's market selling organic produce (Tues and Sat, although it's only on Sats that stallholders turn out in force - look out for the Demetria stall selling first rate biodynamic breads/jams/dairy products, only to get e.g. their butter you have to be there before 8 am or call them and order in advance.

www.parqueaguabranca.sp.gov.br/

Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 455, but several entrances - incl. Rua Ministro Godoy

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Hard to believe, but the latest craze in Brazil is coffee bars, due to the fact that until the mid-90s, all the good stuff was exported leaving the dregs for the locals. Luckily, the charge has been led by discerning locals rather than Starbucks.

Santo Grão is actually run by a Kiwi who married into a traditional producer's family but with the zeal of the newly converted he has opened a large café which organises tastings and also sells bulk coffee - try the coffees from Minas which are smoother than traditional Paulista ones, notably Cerrado Mineiro, but make sure they grind it properly.

Oscar Freire, 413
www.santograo.com.br/

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