Bars

The cocktail hour approaches

A new wave of mixologists
is shaking up a storm in the
city's sexiest bars. Kevin
Raub pulls up a stool
In São Paulo, the difference between a
traditional boteco and a chic cocktail
bar is roughly equal to the distance
between a baile-funk caipirinha in
a plastic cup, and a meticulously
bar-tended Old Fashioned in a cut-
glass tumbler. But while it may be
fashionably late, cocktail culture has
finally arrived in São Paulo.
Below the classically-tiled flooring
of long-popular Vila Madalena boteco
Bar Astor lurks something far more
novel. This speakeasy-sexy basement
space decked out in blood red and
black caters to the city's Mauricinhos
and Patricinhas, as Brazil's well-heeled
young guns are known, who have
definitely not come to indulge in the
draft beers upstairs. Opened in 2009
and kicking off with some 35 cocktails,
SubAstor is an impossibly hip bar not
unlike those found in New York or
London – it even employs a mixologist.
‘These days, many Brazilians who
have lived abroad to study, and by
chance have worked as bartenders,
are returning with updated mixology
techniques,’ explains Márcio Silva,
who honed his skills in Spain and
London before returning to oversee

LUNA GARCIA/PRESS IMAGE

the cocktails at SubAstor. ‘Now
we’re adding the ingredients and
culinary expertise of our own culture
to techniques from countries with the
best mixologists in the world. Cocktail
culture here in Brazil has started to
change, thanks to globalisation.’
Like SubAstor, MyNY Bar in Itaim
Bibi also calls on Prohibition-era US
speakeasies for its aesthetic inspiration;
but its drinks menu is even more
ambitious, matching cocktails to the
ever-changing seasons, and using
four different kinds of ice to ensure
maximum chill from start to finish.
For all its nightlife sophistication,
cocktails were noticeably scarce in São
Cocktail culture here
in Brazil has started
to change, thanks
to globalisation
Take Manhattan MyNY is one of the sleek new bars leading the cocktail charge
Paulo bars and lounges throughout the
first decade of the 21st century. If you
wanted a classic martini in São Paulo;
or something fruity and delicious that
wasn’t a variation on the caipirinha,
you’d probably have found it in hotel
or piano bars. But tastes are changing.
Since 2009, cocktails have exploded
onto the scene in a host of trendy bars,
busy expanding São Paulo’s night-time
beauty and sophistication from beyond
the velvet rope and into the drinks.
‘In 2006, I did a martini menu for
Skye Bar at Hotel Unique, which was
the first one here,’ says Talita Simões,
who had worked in both Europe and
the USA before opening At Nine
bar in Consolação in April. ‘Before
that, everything in Brazil was geared
towards chefs and gourmet culture;
but food and drink work together with
the same intensity. Citrus and acid
are the perfect balance to go with food
and snacks.’
Brazil’s booming economy has
contributed to the city’s newfound
love affair with the cocktail – a
trickle-down effect of the blossoming
middle class. ‘Cocktail culture, until 20
years ago, was prohibitive pricewise
– imported liquors were rare and
extremely expensive,’ says Austrian
Markus Kleissl, owner of Coobee
in Itaim Bibi, which specialises in
champagne cocktails. ‘Sex in the City
helped a lot, and more Brazilians are
travelling abroad and have become
acquainted with cocktails.’ And now
that São Paulo’s cocktail scene has
aligned itself with Brazil’s equally
flourishing GDP, all that nouveau
richness looks set to come in handy:
R$30 wouldn't be out of the question
for one of these dainty drinks – prices
comparable to those of New York and
London. But it's cheaper than a plane
ticket – a turn of events that’s not
lost on MyNY owner Daniel Fialdini.
‘Today,’ he says, ‘paulistanos seeking
the cocktail experience no longer need
to make an international trip.’

40 www.timeout.com/sao-paulo November 2010

520 BARS_claire_28oct.indd 40 10/29/10 9:13 PM

 Botta Gallo
Hotspots

Bars
Dry Rua Padre João Manuel
700, Jardins (3729 6653/
drybar.com.br).

SubAstor Rua Delfina 163,

Vila Madalena (3815 1364/
subastor.com.br)

At Nine Rua da Consolação

MAURO HOLANDA/PRESS IMAGE

2893, Consolação (3061
3900/atnine.com.br)

MyNY Bar Rua Pedroso Alvar-

enga 1285, Itaim Bibi (3071
1166/mynybar.com.br)

Coobee Avenida Presidente

Juscelino Kubitschek 165,
Itaim Bibi (3045 1560/
coobee.com.br)

Clube Pandoro Avenida

Cidade Jardim 60, Jardim Pau-
lista (3062 6000/pandorobar. Warm and welcoming Botta Gallo's convivial tables were made for sharing
com.br)

It's easy to be misled by the low or regular (R$21). Once inside

hum of chatter as you approach
Sampa Botta Gallo, or by the huddles of
people gathered outside, relaxing
specials on the long benches with a beer,
or standing around chatting.
The Wallpaper at SubAstor: Well-fed diners, you conclude,
Sagatiba cachaça, passion having a post-meal smoke. But
fruit, dedo de moça chilli pep- no. They're waiting; and happily.
per, and vanilla sugar. Nobody does waiting for a table as
calmly as a paulistano – trained,
Cucumber Martini at At Nine: possibly, by patience learned the
Grey Goose pear vodka, lime hard way, sat behind the wheel in a
juice, cucumber, basil, and thousand traffic jams.
juniper berry syrup. At Botta Gallo, one of our favourite
new spots in Itaim, the wait is
Eclipse at MyNY: Hennessy well worth it. Kick off – why ever
VSOP cognac, pear liquor, not? – with one of the no-fuss house
Angostura bitters and a chilli special cocktails, to get things
pepper (see photo below). going with a swing. The Vesper
martini, with a hint of lemon, is a
Mariana at Coobee: cham- good call, whether piccolo (R$15)
pagne, passion-fruit juice and
triple sec.
and settled at one of the rustic
wooden tables, just let the efficient,
friendly waiters keep the cold chope
coming, and order a plate or two of
made-for-sharing tapas.
The breaded provolone (R$21)
could, it's true, have been better
melted and more oozing inside;
but on the plus side, its crunchy,
gritty exterior was a perfect
counterpoint to the tasty cheese.
The batatas rusticas (R$27) were
so impeccable that they caused
a stir at our table. Roasted then
fried to a deep gold crispiness
that was just seconds the right
side of overdone, they were pure
potato heaven, topped off with
splintering shards of crackly
parma ham and a vividly orange-
yolked country-style egg.
Simply decked out in warm, rich
wood with large, rustic tables,
Botta Gallo's well-conceived and
homely atmosphere is just the
kind that encourages you to linger
on and on. Just try not to think
too often of the hungry would-be
diners out front.—Claire Rigby
Botta Gallo is at Rua Jesuino
Arruda 520, Itaim Bibi (3078
2858/bottagallo.com.br). Open
noon-3pm, 6.30pm-1.30am Mon-
Thu; noon-3pm, 6.30pm-2.30am
Fri; noon-2.30am Sat; noon-11pm
Sun. Prices chope R$4.10;
caipirinha R$13.50.

Maple Margarita at Clube

Pandoro: tequila, Cointreau, How to make the perfect Bloody Mary
maple, passion-fruit and lime
syrups, passion-fruit salted rim.
Bloody Marys are so often
misunderstood. Some people think
they should be vindaloo-fiery; others
just add a seasoning of vodka to a
great big bucket of tomato juice.
Others think they ought to be
complicated by some bit of exotica
that becomes the maker’s own ‘secret
GLADSTONE CAMPOS/PRESS IMAGE
Ingredients juice and vodka and whisk until well
combined. Pour over ice cubes, and
 25ml lemon juice garnish with a stalk of celery.
 1/2 tsp salt (or celery salt)
 1/2 tsp black pepper
 30ml Worcestershire sauce
 5-6 drops chilli sauce
 450ml tomato juice

ingredient’. They’re all wrong. A  150ml vodka

good bloody Mary has balance, like  Celery stalks, to garnish
REDAV/SHUTTERSTOCK

any successful cocktail. It has a high

ratio of vodka to juice, and shouldn’t Place the lemon juice, salt, black
be too big or it’s a meal instead of a pepper, Worcestershire sauce and
drink. If you get the basic flavourings chilli sauce into a glass jug and
right, you don’t need exotica. whisk thoroughly. Add the tomato

November 2010 www.timeout.com/sao-paulo 41

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