Clayton, Brett, and I landed back in São Paulo around Saturday afternoon.
We had reservations at Chef Alex Atala‘s D.O.M. Restaurante, the only two Michelin Star-rated restaurant in both Brazil and all of the Southern Hemisphere. In summation, it was a 13 to 14 course meal that lasted about 3 hours and cost each of us a little over $200. Still, the dinner itself was a very interesting experience: each course had such dramatic fanfare in both serving the food and its presentation, and Chef Atala gets every ingredient from each state or territory in Brazil. It’s wild, and quite worth the price: for example, neither Clayton or myself are much seafood fans, but some of the fish-heavy courses were delicious. I even ate ants for dessert, as well as a dish containing Cassava root that — if not boiled properly for several hours to remove the natural cynaide — can get you sick or die.
Here’s a rundown of the meal:
Caramelized Cachaca with Beet Powder.
Mashed Sweet Potato with Caramelized Garlic and Sour Cream.
Fermented Palm Heart With Spirulina.
Sorbet of some sort.
Sake Shooters in Brazilian Peppers.
Watermelon, Cucumber, and Codium.
Squid with Cashew, Over Ice.
Oysters with Cupuacu, Whiskey, and Candied Mango.
Palm Heart Fettucine Alfredo with Brazilian Cheese.
Watercress and Mustard Seed.
Smoked Horse Mackerel, Red Onion Cream, and Baroa Potato.
Pirarucu Skin, Banana Puree, and Aviu.
Pirarucu with Tapioca and Tucupi.
Caipirinha Limon.
Quail with Combu Island Cocoa.
Duck Confit with Maderira Wine, Yam Puree, and Green Pepper Oil.
Mashed Potato with Queijo.
Amazonic Ant.
Lime and Banana Ravioli with Priprioca and Cassava Root.
Cafe Expresso.
Assorted Macarons and Pastries.