Coffee high Sabor da Coleita
How to use the listings This section lists our pick of the city’s cafés, padarias (bakeries), juice bars, lanchonete diners and ice cream parlours, updated monthly to include new spots and rotate in other favourites. For each, we give the price of a small coffee – cafezinho – and of a range of sandwiches. We visit cafés anonymously and pay for our own food and drinks, and our listings are chosen entirely at the editors’ discretion. Unless marked ‘No credit cards’, all these establishments accept major credit cards. NEW means the café has opened in the last couple of months. is for highly recommended. is for good veggie options. signals free Wi-Fi for customers.
Centro, Luz & Bom Retiro CAFÉ Café Girondino Named after a famous café from the days when chic hotels were located in the centre and their clients needed an elite spot for a caffeine fix, today’s Girondino is more of an island outpost. It’s one of the few places in the area where you can go for a coffee on weekends or evenings after hitting an exhibition or a film at the CCBB or one of the other cultural institutions nearby. At midday, there’s a full lunch menu including pasta and meat dishes. Rua Boa Vista 365, Centro (3229 4574/cafegirondino.com. br). Metrô 1, São Bento. Open 7.30am10.30pm Mon-Thu; 7.30am-11pm Fri; 8am-8pm Sat; 8am-7pm Sun. Prices cafezinho R$3.20; sandwich R$9.50-$31.90. CAFÉ Café No Vidro Dedicated to
doing it the old fashioned way, former businessman Aldo de Rosa’s downtown establishment is all about filter coffee. His sister-in-law s in charge of the brewing and with each new batch, she rings a brass bell to let passersby know that the fresh coffee is served. Satisfy a sweet tooth with one of Loureiro’s cakes, like the endearingly named engorda marido (R$3.80) – husband fattener – a heavy cake made with milk. Rua Sete de Abril 111, República (3129 8523). Open 7.30am-6pm Mon-Fri. Prices filter coffee R$1.50; sandwiches R$4.50-$6.50.
Consolação & Higienópolis CAFÉ Mate Por Favor A well-loved
infusion all over South America, in Brazil mate is drunk as tea, usually cold. At Mate Por Favor’s convivial open counter, go for a mate with lemon (R$2.50), if you can find a spot. The place is much in demand, as it’s located right in front of the Espaço Unibanco cinema. Rua Augusta 1492, Consolação (3266 7822) Metrô 2, Consolação. Open 8am-10pm Mon-Sat; 1-10pm Sun. Prices cafezinho R$2.50; snacks R$2.50-$3.50. No credit cards.
Itaim Bibi & Vila Olímpia CAFÉ Café Sophie One of the most romantic coffee shops in town, Café Sophie has a decadent boudoir feel, with red velvet curtains and crystal chandeliers. Think Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard rather than Harry and Sally as you sup the Sophie Apaixonada – a glass of coffee mixed with chocolate, red fruit jelly, grated nutmeg and a small jug of whiskey on the side. Rua Tabapuã 961, Itaim Bibi (3071 2535/cafesophie. com.br). Open 11am-9pm Mon-Sat. Prices cafezinho R$4.30; sandwiches R$14.30-$16.90.
Ibirapuera & Moema BAKERY Blés D’Or Temptation awaits
catherine balston
Food & Drink
Café listings
São Paulo may be one of the largest coffee-producing states in Brazil, but not many people know that the capital itself is home to a 10,000-square-metre urban coffee plantation (‘cafezal’), with 1,300 coffee trees planted at the Instituto Biológico, right in the heart of the city. On 24 May – National Coffee Day – visitors to the institute can celebrate the coffee harvest with the ‘Sabor da Colheita’ (‘flavour of the crop’) event. After breakfast and speeches, roll up your sleeves, grab a basket and head off into the plantation to help pick the red and green, peanut-sized coffee fruits. Sabor da Colheita is 10am-1pm, 24 May. Instituto Biológico, Avenida Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves 1252, Vila Mariana (5579 4234/biologico.sp.gov.br). FREE
Vila Madalena & Pinheiros CAFÉ Coffee Lab Isabela Raposeiras,
the renowned barista and proprietress of Coffee Lab, has created a quirky space here in Vila Madalena. Fittingly, the café resembles a lab, with staff kitted out in overalls making coffee with a nerdy attention to detail. All that’s missing are the Bunsen burners, but there’s an array of coffee-making paraphernalia to make up for it: the coffee-zealot menu boasts all manner of brewing methods. Rua Fradique Coutinho 1340, Vila Madalena (3375 7400/coffeelab.com.br). Open 10am7pm Mon-Fri; 11am-8pm Sat. Prices cafezinho R$4.50. CAFÉ Ekoa Café For coffee with
a conscience, head to Ekoa, where sustainability and the environment are at the heart of everything they produce and serve. The food is organic and follows the slow food ethic. As you might expect, there are plenty of veggie choices. If you’re looking to hook into the local Green scene, Ekoa organises a monthly Green Drinks happy hour, when guest speakers come to discuss everything to do with environmental awareness. Rua Fradique Coutinho 914, Vila Madalena (3032 7842/ekoacafe.com.br). Open 10am-9pm Mon-Fri; noon-8pm Sat. Prices cafezinho R$3.50; sandwiches R$9.20-$18.50.
Jardins BAKERY A Quinta do Marquês ‘Our pastel de nata is as good as the original ones from Belém,’ boasts one of this bakery’s diligent waiters, confident in his comparison with one of Lisbon’s most famous delicacies. And he ain’t lying. It’s worth making a special trip to this bakery-cum-restaurant just to slowly devour one of the Portuguese custard tarts. For something savoury, try the bolinhos de bacalhau – fried codfish balls (R$1.80 each). Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima 1853, Jardim Paulistano (3371 2300/aquintadomarques.com.br). Open 6am-11.30pm daily. Prices cafezinho R$3, sandwiches R$7-$8. Other location Rodovia Castelo Branco km 57. BAKERY St. Etienne This popular
meeting-point bakery and confectioner has a great breakfast buffet (R$11.90 Mon-Fri; R$28 Sat, Sun), a popular happy hour, and tables out on the pavement. It’s open 24/7 and the buzz is constant, whether for chope-drinking or soup-sipping, sweet treats or cold cuts. Alameda Joaquim Eugênio de Lima 1417, Jardim Paulista (3885 0691/santaetienne.com.br). Open 24 hours daily Prices cafezinho R$3.30; sandwiches R$8.90-$29.50. Other location Avenida Diógenes Ribeiro de Lima 2555, Alto de Pinheiros (3021 1200). 24 HR
here in the form of bread fresh from the bakery, or sweet delights from the pâtisserie, such as eclairs and mille feuilles. Stop in for a coffee or go for the weekend brunch buffet, with scrambled eggs, crêpes and cakes. Rua Tuim 653, Moema (5532 0183/blesdor.com. br) Open 7.30am-10.30pm Mon-Fri; 8.30am-10.30pm Sat; 8.30am-6pm Sun. Prices cafezinho R$3.20; sandwiches R$19-$28.
Liberdade, Bela Vista & Vila Mariana café Nicecup One of the best cafés in
the Vila Mariana and Chácara Klabin area, Nicecup has something of a retro air, its ample space replete with varnished wood, and red armchairs. The espressos (R$4.30) are made with their own brand coffee and team up well with a plate of mini churros (R$17,50) and hot chocolate sauce. Rua Pedro Nicole 1, Vila Mariana (5083 1012/nicecup.com. br). Open noon-11pm Mon-Thu; noonmidnight Fri-Sun. Prices cafezinho R$4.30; sandwiches R$19-$28.
Santo Amaro & Campo Belo café Café des Fleurs What Café des Fleurs lacks in space it makes up for in cosy ambience, with a Provençal décor. The espresso (R$3.90), made with Orfeu beans, as well as Nespresso options, go well with the homemade croque monsieur (R$23.90), followed by a mil-folhas – custard cream (R$13.50). Divine. Rua Gabriele D’annunzio 1291, Campo Belo (5093 2003). Open 11.30am-10pm TueFri; 9am-10pm Sat, Sun. Prices cafezinho R$3.90; sandwiches R$8.90-$19.90 café Il Barista This café was one of the city’s gourmet café pioneers when it opened in 2003. It has since spawned a further three locations, all of which serve the in-house line of coffee blends. Their famous, full-bodied espresso competes with other drinks such as the freddo limone (R$13), an iced cappuccino with lime-flavoured ice-cream. Rua Verbo Divino 1385, Santo Amaro (5181 1671/ilbarista. com.br). Open 8am-8pm Mon-Fri. Prices cafezinho R$4; sandwiches R$8.80-$14. Other locations Alameda Lorena 1731, Jardim Paulista; Rua Mário Ferraz 414, Itaim Bibi; Shopping Morumbi (see Shopping listings).
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