“This was an absolutely outstanding food tour!”
— Shanuka, 2026
01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Sao Paulo.
Paulista Plates
Sao Paulo
Eat São Paulo at lunchtime — Mercadão mortadella, coxinha, pastel de feira and feijoada.
Sao Suppers
Sao Paulo
Taste Sampa on a plate — feijoada, Mercadão mortadella and coxinha from Bela Vista.
02 Meet the tastemakers
The local food experts who help us research, refine and lead every A Chef's Tour.
Feijoada slow cooked with pork and beans, mortadella sandwiches at Mercadao, pastel do feira, coxinha shredded chicken in dough. Sao Paulo eats Brazil, Italy, Japan and Lebanon all in one lunch.
04 The pantry
- Feijao preto, black beans for the classic feijoada
- Dende, palm oil used for northeastern dishes
- Farofa, toasted cassava flour scattered over every plate
- Mortadella, folded high into the market sandwich
- Aji de rocoto, imported Peruvian chillies in the new-wave kitchens
05 In the kitchen
- Slow-cooking feijoada with black beans and salted pork parts on Wednesdays and Saturdays
- Building the Mercadao mortadella sandwich to a wobbling stack
- Grilling picanha over the churrascaria's rotating spits
- Baking coxinhas teardrop chicken croquettes with a shattering crust
- Layering pastel de feira pastries at the weekly street markets
06 Eat this first
- Feijoada, black bean and pork stew with rice, kale and orange
- Mortadella sandwich, Mercadao Municipal's mile-high classic
- Coxinha, teardrop-shaped shredded-chicken croquette
- Pastel de feira, deep-fried pastry stuffed with cheese or meat
- Picanha, top-cap steak grilled over open flame with rice and beans
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
09 Recipes
A collection of authentic recipes we couldn't leave behind.
Little baked coconut-and-cheese cups with a caramelised top. A Portuguese convent sweet that landed in Brazil and never left.
Shredded roast chicken, melted mozzarella, potato palha and a slick of creamy sauce piled inside a hot roll. The São Paulo boteco chicken sandwich generations of Rua Piauí counters made famous.
Thin, crackling pastry deep-fried around a ground-beef filling. The classic feirinha snack, sold with sugarcane juice on Saturday mornings.
Chocolate condensed milk cooked down to fudge, rolled into balls, coated in sprinkles. The birthday-party sweet every Brazilian grew up on.
Fresh coconut cooked slowly with sugar until chewy and caramelised. The beach sweet sold by Salvador's Baianas straight from the pan.
Half a kilo of thin-sliced mortadella and melted provolone piled inside a small French roll. The Mercadão Municipal's single most famous order.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Sao Paulo.
Weather
Subtropical. Mild year-round (15–25°C), warmer November to March, cool July nights. Sudden storms year-round. Layers help.
Currency
The Brazilian real (BRL). Cards accepted almost everywhere. PIX dominates for locals, cash for small purchases.
Language
Portuguese (Brazilian). English coverage is decent in Jardins and Vila Madalena, thinner elsewhere.
Etiquette
Fast-paced and business-focused by Brazilian standards. More reserved than Rio. Be street-smart with phones. Uber and 99 are the safe options.
Getting around
The metro is fast, clean, and expanding, cheap and easy. Uber and 99 are reliable everywhere. Traffic is heavy so build in time.
Prayer
Predominantly Catholic with rapidly growing Evangelical churches. Home to one of the world's largest Japanese-Buddhist communities (Liberdade). Muslim, Jewish, and Umbanda communities also strong.