D.O.M.

[FDE]

Haven't seen much about D.O.M. in Egullet, so I will start this by sharing my recent experience there.

We had the tasting menu for about USD$170! That’s around the price of Fat Duck or Ramsay!

We arrived at 7pm but were the only customers there for the first 90min. Locals there eat late I guess. It was full house when we left.

The receptionist of the restaurant was very friendly and tried her best to translate most ingredients to us when each course arrived. She started learning English recently.

Extremely high ceiling dining room with an 18-feet wooden door!

Here are a few excellent courses of the evening:

"Citrus green tomato gel with Amazonian herb and flower"

It was a colourful and refreshing starter showcasing various flavours from the Amazon like wild coriander seeds, Peruvian corn, and various aromatic herbs. The citrus jelly underneath was quite mild, which had the effect of highlighting his unique ingredients.

This is the 2nd best course of the evening. Laying on top of a crunchy paper of palm heart were carpaccio of sea scallop with citronella oil, seaweed puree, local herbs, and pear sticks. The moist scallop's pure freshness and the pear's fruity sweetness, along with the flavours from those exotic herbs, together with the crunchiness from the palm heart. It was superb!

AND this was the best of the night: a concentrated veal jus with tucupi and Amazonian herbs.

Our server then poured over an intense wild mushroom bisque. Wow, it was like taking flavours from thousands of mushrooms and packed them into this airy soup. Mixing in the savoury veal stock with tucupi from the bottom gave us a further boost on the palate! Really great stuff!

They also have aligot there, but nothing compared to Michel Bras.

Even though we had a few great dishes, we still think it was on the expensive side. Including just a few glasses of wine and service, it was a USD$500 meal for two of us!

I am interested in hearing other opinions about this restaurant. Anyone had a recent visit there??

Full album here:

www.finediningexplorer.com/dom

[AlexForbes]

Hi,

yes, I had dinner there very recently and had the same mushroom "soup" as you did - delish!

Overall, great dinner. Good thing my dad paid.

And yes, of course, it IS super expensive. Sao Paulo these days costs a lot and chef Atala is friends with all the other chefs u mention, so why should he charge any less than they do? I figure that's his thinking...

Anyhow, will post photos of my dinner here soon. For now, a word of warning: DOM just underwent a lightning-fast renovation that left it with a lot less tables, and prices will go up, I think.

[FDE]

Your dad paid! Lucky you!

I wonder, is D.O.M. the most expensive restaurant in Sao Paulo, or even in Brazil?

Yes, I read your posting on World's 50 Best website about D.O.M.'s renovation. But I can't imagine he can charge even a more expensive menu.

[AlexForbes]

No, actually, D.O.M. is NOT the most expensive restaurant in Brazil. Fasano, also in São Paulo, takes the prize.

It is a ridiculously expensive place (for what it offers). I have no problem investing 500 bucks on a dinner - as long as the food is damned great!

Here is the link to my post on the 50 Best blog, which has several photos of the post-reno D.O.M., which IMO looks much better and feels warmer.

Can't deny the place is expensive, though. São Paulo, as a whole, keeps getting pricier and pricier. More foreigners, more dollars, heavy import duties, and all that put together = price hikes!

So don't expect an inexpensive star-rated meal: prices are almost in line with New York and even Paris nowadays, believe it or not.