Modern Brazilian cuisine, explained
Junior Borges, executive chef of the first restaurant of the genre in the U.S., will break it down for us in a live-streamed conversation
Six years ago, Michelin chose Brazil for its first Red Guide in South America — presumably largely thanks to the modern Brazilian cuisine movement deliciously exploding there.
São Paolo is its red-hot center; there Jefferson Rueda (A Casa do Porco), Alex Atala (D.O.M.), Helena Rizzo (Maní), Rodrigo Oliveira (Mocotó, Balaio) and César Costa (Corrutela) have been wowing diners and critics. But the movement expresses itself in Rio de Janeiro, too, led by chefs such as Alberto Landgraf (Oteque), and in Curitiba, where Manoella Buffara (Manu) is a star.
Oliveira opened a restaurant in Los Angeles in August, Caboco. I haven’t had the chance to dine there yet, and look forward to doing so soon.
Meanwhile, the first modern Brazilian fine dining restaurant to open in the U.S. this century debuted several months before Caboco, here in Dallas: Meridian. It is headed by executive chef Junior Borges, who happens to be my friend, as well as my client. (To be precise, The Village — the mixed-use residential community that owns Meridian is my client.) It has been a great honor and pleasure to work with him and his team at Meridian over the past eight months. It was named Restaurant of the Year for 2021 by our city magazine, D Magazine, and by Eater Dallas, and earned a rave review in Texas Monthly.
And it’s super exciting to be involved with a project that is introducing modern Brazilian cuisine to the United States. To that end, tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST, Junior and I will be live-streaming a conversation about modern Brazilian cuisine from Meridian. The stream will be on a cool new platform called Kittch, specifically for creators and enthusiasts in the food sphere. (The platform is still in beta — Junior and I are early adopters!)
Join our live stream on Wednesday
We’d love for you to join us live at the “chef’s table” for the interactive one-hour stream, as I interview Junior about modern Brazilian cuisine. We’ll dive into its cultural context and influences, show some ingredients and interesting dishes, explain the way it’s expressed on the plates at Meridian and more. You’ll be able to chat with us and ask Chef Borges questions. It takes place tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 26) at noon PST/1 p.m. MST/2 p.m. CST/3 p.m. EST.
You’ll need to sign up for a Kittch account to join us (or to see the stream later, if you can’t make it.) Hope to see you there!
OK, that’s it for now. I’ll write again soon and try to include readings next time!
Want to follow me on Kittch? Here’s my page.
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That's a YES to Brazilian cheese fritters!!