Eu Amo o Brasil ~ Figueira Rubaiyat

I fell in love with Sao Paulo, Brazil this past May. I had the best lunch of my life and it was the first day of Geeks on a Plane South America. Upon arriving in Sao Paulo after 17 hours of transit, we went to the world renowned Figueira Rubaiyat. One of my coworkers, Bedy Yang, had organized an impressive 'welcome lunch' that will be impossible to top. We had no idea what was in store for us as we were flying into Sao Paulo....

This restaurant is ranked number 4 in Sao Paulo which has more restaurants than New York City! The design of the restaurant is stunning. It is built around an old fig tree - Figueira means fig tree. The ambient here is really upscale, unique and memorable. This is an expensive restaurant but well worth the price as it is not just a meal - but rather an entire experience. Here is a picture taken from the entrance of the restaurant:

The bar was gorgeous. Long wooden shelves with warm colored bottles and a huge vase with impressive fuscia orchids and hibiscus flowers. Our lunch was in the private backroom but if I recommend trying to get a seat in the jardin, beneath the fig tree and having a drink at this bar while you wait for your table.

Welcome to Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is Geeks on a Plane with incredible cuisine all along the way...

The tables settings were unique and gorgeous. Bread displayed like vintage books...

The experience began with a small plate of warm Brazilian cheese balls - Portuguese cheese puffs brought to the table. They were soft and uniformly golden to perfection

 As soon as we all sat down, waiters promptly brought out white plates of superb antipastos. There were small marinated Bocconcini, roasted heirloom tomatoes with pesto sauce, thick slabs of grilled summer squash with pesto, marinated mangoes and peppers, and slices of spicy Sopresetta. The colors and flavors were all beautiful, vibrant and went together magnificently.

As a main course we were served large cuts of delicious tender, medium rare Kobe beef with a side of roasted olive oil potatoes. I am normally not a big meat-eater - but I decided to indulge when in South America and I'm very happy I did!

As an alternative to meat you could have the fish dish cooked in a cast iron skillet with a tomato vera cruz sauce and basil and cheese broiled on top.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the meal was the 20 foot long dessert buffet. Complete with freshly cut fruit, flans, tarts, cakes, dulce de leche, puddings, crumbles - this was a table of heaven on Earth.

Here is a plate of my dessert selections (I seriously love buffets). The small yellow round in the upper right corner is a traditional Portuguese egg custard tart. There are pieces of grilled fruit, peaches and plums, a square of heavenly flan and a dulce de leche custard tart.

Just in case a dessert buffet was not enough - an additional tray was brought to each table with an assortment of chocolates, cookies, and sweet delicacies. By this time, all the Geeks had fallen into a food coma...let the adventures begin.

Figueira Rubaiyat

Rua Haddock Lobo, 1738 - Jd. Paulista - Sao Paulo

Reservations recommended

Isabel & La Mar in Santiago, Chile - Top Ten Meal!

During Geeks on a Plane South America I had the amazing experience of being taken out to La Mar Cebicheria in Santiago. The meal was superb and I was SO HAPPY to have one of my best friends, Isy/Isabelita, join us! It had been about a year since we last saw each other and to meet at a top restaurant in her current home town was absolutely wonderful. Here is a picture of Isy and I followed by a group shot of all the Geeks at La Mar Cebicheria in Santiago, Chile. 

As you read through this post you may want to refer to the gastronomic dictionary on the global La Mar website. Our experience began with authentic Chilean Pisco Sours - the national drink - although many will say the origin of the drink is Peruvian. A Pisco Sour is a cocktail containing Pisco, lemon juice, egg whites, simple syrup and bitters. These drinks are strong and delicious and not too sweet:  
Because we were out to dinner with a couple of Peruvians who took this meal very seriously - they took control of all the food ordering. They ordered the best dishes! The seafood was all freshly caught, the flavors simple using few ingredients but very obviously high quality ingredients. Everything tasted fresh, delicious and extremely flavorful. Our meal began with a mix of Kennebec potato, sweet potato and plantain chips served with a selection of sauces - huancaina and rocoato sauce. I am not sure what the third sauce is here: 

Next, and perhaps my favorite part of the meal was the chef's sample tasting of cebiches! Cebiche is the national dish of Peru. The tasting included 5 different kinds of cebiche served in generous shot glasses. They included:

• Cebiche Clásico - Halibut in a leche de tigre with red onion, habanero, Peruvian corn and yam
• Cebiche Mixto - Yellow tail, calamari, shrimp in a aji amarlio leche de tigre with cilantro, red onion, Peruvian corn and yam
• Cebiche Chalaco - Yellow tail, mussles, clams, scallop, shrimp, red onion, cilantro in a rocoto leche de tigre
• Cebiche Carretillero - Yellow tail, shrimp, mussels, clams, celery, red onion cilantro, cancha and habanero in a classic leche de tigre with Peruvian corn and yam
• Cebiche Nikei - Tuna, red onion, japanese cucumber, daikon, avocado, nori and sesame in a tamarind leche de tigre

Next up we had a plate with  a different kind of cebiche. In this photo you can see how Peruvian corn is so much larger and plump than American corn:

Next we had these delicious freshly caught white fish (I don't remember if it was tuna or yellow tail) served with thinly sliced red onion, Peruvian corn, and a sweet potato puree.

After three course of cebiche and faw fish we had a selection of causas. Causas are a combination of whipped potatoes topped with seafood and vegetarian combinations.  We got a chef's causas tasting which included:

• Causa Limeñ - Dungeness Crab on top of a yellow potato causa with avocado purée, quail egg, cherry tomatoes, ají amarillo Huancaína sauce and basil cilantro oil
• Causa Nikei - Tuna tartar and avocado purée on top of whipped purple potato with creamy rocoto Huancaína sauce topped with Japanese nori
• Causa Camaró - Sweet and spicy poached shrimp and fried onions on top of purple potato with leche de tigre aiol
• Causa Caser - Yellow potato causa, artichokes, asparagus, avocado and tomato confit with basil cilantro oil

Next we had a divine octopus skewer over a  pureed yuca with Peruvian corn, spicy panchita and rocoto sauce:

Next we had the main course which was steak literally covered with french fries and served with a mound of rice mixed with Peruvian corn. This was delicious. Served with roasted tomatoes and onions. Carbo overload yes but it was very satisfying.

Finally for dessert we had these sweet potato and pumpkin fritters served with a spiced honey sauce. 

La Mar Cebicheria

Santiago, Chile

N. Costanera 3922, Vitacura. t. 207839

Tostones: Fried Green Plantains

Fried plantains have become my go-to late night food. There is a restaurant just across the street from my apartment that is open 24 hours and while the food is horrible, overly fried and tasteless, they make great plantains that are just the perfect ending to a long night! Yesterday I was strolling through Essex Market in the Lower East Side and the Batista Mini Market had a deal for their green and yellow plantains. Tostones are savory plantains that are served with sauces and are made into chips; they come from the green plantains. The peels can be difficult to remove and require a little force. The banana itself is very firm. Maduros are the sweet fried plantains, often cooked with brown sugar; they come from the yellow plantains. I decided to make tostones, twice fried, and serve them with some sea salt, cilantro and fresh avocado. They are also delicious with a pesto-garlic sauce or a sour cream based sauce with lime zest, or just standard chili pepper sauce. They are best served warm and just patted for excess oil. In the picture below, the green plantains are on the right and the sweet yellow plantains are on the left. Yellow plantains are tasty to eat before being fried while green plantains taste a little waxy before they are fried.

Tostones: Fried Green Plantains

Ingredients:
Green Plantains
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Directions:
1. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the plantain peel and remove skin. Slice the plantains into 3/4 inch slices on a diagonal.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan until it is bubbling and fry the plantains for two minutes on each side. I used two forks to flip the plantains over. Then remove the plantains and put them on paper towels and let them cool for 5 minutes.

3. Using a heavy solid object (I used a salsa jar) press down on the cooled plantains and squash them so they are about 1/2 the thickness. In this pictured you can see the squashed plantains on the right.

4. After flattening all the plantains, put them back in the oil and fry on each side for about 4 minutes.

5. Remove the plantains and pat them with a paper towel to remove the excess oil. Sprinkle some kosher salt on them and serve warm.