Rio, Brazil

[Wilfrid]

If I was going to have just one dining experience in Rio, what should I go for? I did read Anil's reports. Anyone else been down there?

If it came to it, I would be more interested in eating something which reflected Brazilian cuisine than just a good local version of the global cuisine you can eat anywhere (foie gras, salmon, beef).

Thanks.

[tommy]

no thongs.

[anil]

Feijoada, is the brazilian national dish. Rice, beans meat mixture.

Bacalhau is a cod based appetiser very popular bfst,lunch and every thing in between. When you are ready to go to Rio, give me a holler. I'll

dig some more specific info.

thongs ? What about thongs ?

[Wilfrid]

Happily, I'm all set to go next week. I am going to check some guide books at the weekend. Anil: I am reasonably familiar with the main indigenous dishes, but if you have any tips about good places to try them, that would be most welcome.

I am going to try to fit in one high end dinner, so suggestions for that would be helpful too. Although I should be able to figure out the options from the guide books. Not going for long, sadly, so this won't be an in depth experience of Brazilian cuisine.

[anil]

Given all that is happening in BR, play it safe, go to Marius in Leme, it is a Churrascaria and Rodizio combined. If you know a local friend, they might take you to Leblon area.

[Wilfrid]

OOOf, rodizio. Just taking the opportunity to log in from an internet cafe behind Copacaban Beach, in case anyone needed to know how hot and sunny it is down here. I am also struck by the happy coincidence of demographics and fashion, which has put so many beautiful young women and so many tiny bikinis in the same place at the same time. Oh don't worry, there are hunky guys in briefs too.

My current problem is that I have only five hours to digest a rodizio/caipirinha blowout at Porcaon on the bay here in Rio so that I can, er, recalibrate my tastebuds and enjoy Claude Troigros. I''m told the food at CT is quite light, and it had better be if I''m to fit on the plane tomorrow.

Ah, to have such problems. Boa noite to all of you.

[bourdain]

Wilfred: I await a full report on Rio with baited breath. I'm headed there Saturday to be followed by Salvador. Suggestions would be most welcome.

[Jinmyo]

Wilfrid with a tan.

[CathyL]

no thongs.

Excellent advice, Tommy. The prerequisite for a thong is a Brazilian bikini wax.

[Kerouac1964]

Tony & All --

This site looks promising as a good all around general food guide for Rio:

http://www.planetrider.com/travel-guide.cf..._de_Janeiro.htm

Mike

Sioux City, Ia

[Wilfrid]

Flew into Newark 5.30 this morning, but will get some reports up tomorrow.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Joyce]

Tony, Wilfrid:

As of last Spring, Marius in Leme was still about the best place to go "eat meat", as our Carioca cousins call it. There will be tourists there, but all the locals go there as well. For a beer-&-munchie hangout, I recommend Sindicato do Chop, on a corner across the street from Copacabana. It will be full of tourists during the day, all choosing whatever looks "safe" from the long menu. It's much more fun to go at night, preferably with a group of people so you can select more items. Ask a local person to point out the more interesting things on the menu. Wash it all down with chop, the local draft beer. Further afield, across the bridge in Niteroi (sp?) there is a dingy steamy upstairs hole-in-the-wall which no tourist would ever try. Our cousins took us there and before long we were sitting behind piles of plates, among which were the best fried sardines we'd ever tasted. Alas, not enough time to contact them and ask the name, but if you ask around, someone may know. As for the feijoada, no trip is complete without it. It's by far the best in someone's home, on a Sunday afternoon, followed by a siesta. See if you can snag an invitation. And finally, drink the caipirinha (and learn how to make it)! Treat it with respect: it's not the limeade you remember from childhood, but on the other hand, it's not hard to drink the Brazilians under the table. My husband and I do it regularly!

--Joyce, of the Yahoo Ruffians

[yvonne johnson]

Flew into Newark 5.30 this morning, but will get some reports up tomorrow.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm a bit late on this one then. Were your steaks (in Brazil) swimming in butter? I heard that Brazilians put butter on their steak--to the betterment of the meat, of course. (Maybe Ducasse's practices have a sound basis. More butter=betterment. Of course, of course. Reminds me, where is LML?

[CooksQuest]

I'm headed there Saturday to be followed by Salvador. Suggestions would be most welcome.

Tony,

For Salvador, check out the 1997 New York Times article, "A Neighborhood Lives Again" by Susan Katz Miller. Really gets your blood going (though maybe not as much as aniticpating a cobra heart...).

I highly recommend Tempero da Dada in Salvador (Pelourinho neighborhood). The Bobo de Camarao is unreal. Here's the article, still available for free online:

New York Times Article

Also, a great getaway from Salvador is Morro de Sao Paulo. It's off the coast of Salvador by boat. I almost didn't make it back though because of a "Perfect Storm" return trip. Even the captain was putting on a life preserver.

[bourdain]

Thanks. Yeah--I'm definitely doing Tempero da Dada--I've been to Soriso da Dada on a previous trip. Great. I see that armed drug gangs are storming the prison and attacking the governor's residence in Rio--and generally behaving as a law unto themselves (they shut down the whole city a few weeks ago). Should be video Gold! Thanks for the tips all.

[Wilfrid]

And I didn't notice nothing. Oh well, have fun.