Michelin releases inaugural Brazil guide

Michelin has released its first guide to Brazil, focusing on the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo, with only one restaurant scooping two Michelin stars.

Alex Atala

Marking the famed guide’s first foray into South America, leading the pack was D.O.M in São Paolo, run by heavily inked former DJ Alex Atala, whose cooking was described as “truly unique”.

Standing for Deo Optimus Maximus (God is greatest and best), Atala’s painterly plates use ingredients sourced during trips to the Amazon rainforest in a bid to highlight Brazil’s bounty of local produce.

D.O.M is currently ranked at number seven on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

The guide also awarded 16 restaurants one Michelin star, including French restaurant Olympe run by Claude Troisgros, Japanese sites Jun Sakamoto, Kinoshita and Kosushi; and Atala’s second São Paolo restaurant, Dalva e Dito.

“The first edition of this guide reveals the true potential of Brazil’s gastronomic scene,” Michelin guide director Michael Ellis said in a statement.

“Our inspectors discovered an extensive and diverse selection of creative cuisine, featuring high-quality local produce with influences from around the world,” he added.

This year Michelin will publish guides to 24 countries across four continents.

Two stars

• D.O.M.

One star

• Huto, Sao Paulo
• Dalva e Dito, Sao Paulo
• Oro, Rio de Janeiro
• Roberta Sudbrack, Rio de Janeiro
• Kinoshita, Sao Paulo
• Epice, Sao Paulo
• Kosushi, Sao Paulo
• Tuju, Sao Paulo
• Le Pré Catelan, Rio de Janeiro
• Olympe, Rio de Janeiro
• Attimo, Sao Paulo
• Maní, Sao Paulo
• Jun Sakamoto, Sao Paulo
• Mee, Rio de Janeiro
• Lasai, Rio de Janeiro
• Fasano, Sao Paulo