Alphaville's gastronomic boom: famous restaurants are preparing to open in the region

Located in the municipality of Barueri, close to the Castello Branco Highway, Alphaville was born in the 1970s as the first Brazilian urban project similar to the American “edge cities”, planned cities located close to large metropolises. Since then, the quiet region of Greater São Paulo, which until then had no more than 60 thousand inhabitants, has become one of the most vibrant places in the state, with a food scene that doesn't stop growing.

There are many bars and restaurants in the capital that replicate their success there, such as Bráz Trattoria, Pirajá and Coco Bambu, and 2024 holds the arrival of more big names. Among them are ICI Brasserie, We Coffee and Da Mooca Pizza Shop. “Alphaville forms part of ICI’s growth strategy”, says Sylvana Gouveia Auger, director of expansion at Cia Tradicional do Comércio, the group that manages the brand’s restaurants. On January 23, ICI Brasserie opens its fourth unit, located in the Iguatemi Alphaville shopping mall. “With this store, the first in Greater São Paulo, we intend to launch a new identity and, at the same time, meet the region’s demand.”

With a forecast of 130 seats, the new ICI Brasserie occupies a 350 m² space on the Rio Negro Floor of the shopping center, in an area that is home to other renowned restaurants, such as Pobre Juan, specializing in Argentine-style meats, and Ráscal, famous for the exquisite buffet. Inspired by typical French brasseries, small breweries that serve quick meals, the restaurant has a menu designed by the chef Benny Novak , which ranges from sandwiches to classics like steak tartare and moules et frites. “It is a region made up of a high-income social class population, with a lack of French gastronomy”, adds Sylvanas.

In the first week of March, those who arrive in the area are trendy coffee shop We Coffee. A phenomenon in the real and virtual world, thanks to stores with futuristic design and equally Instagrammable foods, the chain promises to bring these attributes to Shopping Tamboré, which currently has thirteen restaurants and 65 operations in the food court, accounting for around 900 thousand customers per year. month. “We are studying to create an experience store with an international brand”, says Neire Oliveira, head of expansion for the brand, without, however, revealing the name in question.

“Being in Alphaville is part of We Coffee's plan to advance throughout Greater São Paulo and will be an interesting challenge because it has a mix of residential and executive audiences. It is a niche with high purchasing power and extremely demanding”, says Neire.

Recent numbers help explain the growing interest of large gastronomic groups in the region. Barueri was the seventh municipality in Brazil and the second in the state that generated the most formal jobs in October 2023, according to the latest report from Novo Caged (General Register of Employed and Unemployed) from the Ministry of Labor. Another recent survey showed that Alphaville was the neighborhood in Barueri with the highest number of new companies installed. Furthermore, Santana de Parnaíba, which also houses part of the condominiums, had the highest proportional population growth among municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants in Brazil, according to the 2022 Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Conceived in the early 1970s by engineers Yojiro Takaoka and Renato Albuquerque, Alphaville was originally a business center with the aim of transferring industries and offices from the capital, avoiding unrest in the upscale areas. At the same time, high-end gated communities emerged, allowing executives to live nearby and eliminating trips to São Paulo.

Another entrepreneur with an eye on this market is chef Fellipe Zanuto. “In 2024, we plan to expand the delivery operations, of both Da Mooca Pizza Shop and Onesttà, to Alphaville”, assures him, responsible for running these two successful pizzerias in the capital. “These are brands that align with the region, which is why it is part of our expansion plan.” When asked about the possibility of also opening a branch of his other venture, the renowned Hospedaria restaurant, Fellipe leaves it open: “I would never say never. So yes, it is a possibility. Who knows by the end of the year?”