Thiago Cerqueira Lima was born in Belo Horizonte, but he began his journey in the kitchen far from home, and with renowned French chefs throughout Brazil, among them Marc Le Dantec, with whom Thiago worked at the address that bore his name in Salvador, and Erick Jacquin, at the well-known La Brasserie and Tartar & Co, both in São Paulo.
In 2016, after accumulating baggage at Taste Vin from Belo Horizonte and at Le Repas and La Maison Est Tombée from São Paulo, Thiago joined the creation team of Sympa, which was considered one of the best new restaurants in São Paulo in 2017 by the specialized critics.
Two years later, the professional was responsible for the kitchen of the Loup restaurant, in Itaim Bibi, with dishes inspired not only by one, but by several cuisines around the world.
Today, he is in charge of the Perseu Coffee House, which serves coffee, brunch and lunch – the dish recommended by the chef himself is steak tartare with fries -, as well as the brand new Flora Bar, that works no style speakeasy and, from afar, enchants with its flowers and plants on the façade, as well as its excellent drinks and food.
Away from the kitchens and away from his business, Thiago also tries other flavors around the city and shares with Viagem & Gastronomia unmissable requests from his favorite restaurants in São Paulo:
URU Sea and Grill
Occupying an entire block on the east side of the capital, the URU Sea and Grill is my tip for a restaurant that serves good Uruguayan food. With a blue and white facade, the house has a certain charm of the neighboring country and has tables scattered along the sidewalk.
Excellent starters to share from the kitchen, such as chorizo and provoleta. My suggestion is fresh oysters, which can be ordered raw or grilled. They are a delight and leave from Rio Grande do Norte directly to the restaurant’s aquarium.
Rua Emília Marengo, 109 – Vila Reg. Feijó, São Paulo – SP. Telephone and WhatsApp: (11) 2308-9499. Delivery via Rappi.
Flagging
Founded by three friends, sociologist Carlos Alberto Dória and chefs Marcelo Corrêa Bastos and Gustavo Rodrigues, the Flagging serves dishes inspired by rustic and caiçara cuisine in the bohemian neighborhood of Vila Madalena.
From the menu, highlights include angu pastries, São Paulo couscous, pork rolê and vegetable lobozó. But my suggestion is the roast chicken, considered one of the best in town.
It’s a stuffed and roasted free-range chicken that serves up to four people. Importantly, it is roasted on the “dog TV”, as the in-house team jokes, referring to the machine with skewers that is usually outside bakeries and restaurants.
Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque, 436 – Vila Madalena, São Paulo – SP. Telephone: (11) 93056-2146. Delivery via site e Rappi.
Reis dos Reis Restaurant
With round tables inside, the King of Kings is a simple restaurant in the traditional neighborhood of Liberdade, close to the subway. Simplicity is also reflected in its menu, with appetizing recipes.
The dishes are well served and the menu is filled with seafood, meat, chicken, duck and yakisoba. Among the various options, I recommend steamed shrimp wantan, which are like very thin-leaf pastries with wheat flour dough and eggs – in this case, stuffed with shrimp.
Praça Carlos Gomes, 178 – Liberdade, São Paulo – SP. Telephone: (11) 3115-4676. Delivery via iFood.
Sushi Hamatyo
Very traditional and with a discreet facade on Avenida Pedroso de Morais, in Pinheiros, the Sushi Hamatyo focuses on cold dishes of traditional Japanese cuisine. In the lounge, which is currently only accessed via reservation, it is ideal to sit at the counter.
From the hands of the sushiman, various sushi, temaki and makimonos come out. But my favorite restaurant order is tirashi, a dish with a variety of raw and cooked fish placed in a bowl over sushi rice.
At Hamatyo, there are five types of tirashi on the fixed menu, such as the special, which includes sashimi with assorted fish, urchin roe and scallop on seasoned rice, or even Toro Bluefin, which, in addition to sashimi and rice, includes fatty tuna Bluefin, sea urchin roe, scallop, salmon roe, eel and clams.
Avenida Pedroso de Morais, 393 – Pinheiros, São Paulo – SP. phone and WhatsApp: (11) 3813-1586. Face-to-face service with reservations only. Delivery by phone and WhatsApp.
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Reference: CNN Brasil
