Nuts for Brazil
Tell people you’re going to Brazil and the automatic response is “Oh, Rio’s great”. Pronouncing that you’re actually headed to São Paulo is met with little but blank stares and a puzzled, “Why?”
But Brazil’s biggest city should be on everyone’s radar. More than just a place to catch a flight to the country’s beaches, São Paulo’s wealth of culture, foodie scene and great hotels make it a destination in its own right.
Let’s start with the latter, because every excellent trip begins with an excellent base. Ours is Palácio Tanmarked gará, an Oetker Collection hotel with 141 rooms, set amid the Burle Marx Park, named for the famed landscape architect of German-Jewish and Brazilian Catholic descent. While the hotel’s setting would be unusual anywhere — a low building amid skyscrapers, in a bubble of greenery — it’s all the more so in this sprawling city.
After walking past high velvet chairs in the airy lobby with its beautiful gold hanging ceiling installation, our own suite is vast and the height of luxury, complete with dining table for six, guest bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. Neutral décor has pops of pale green — the black-and-white checkerboard rug in the living room is swoon-worthy, as is the bathroom, a huge expanse of contrasting black and white marble.
Our (many) suite windows overlook the scene-y swimming pool, perfect for people-watching and tanning, and the hotel also has an indoor pool, sauna, spa by Sisley and gym. The Tangará Jean-Georges restaurant is famed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first foray into South America. Excitingly, it was awarded a Michelin star last year, and deservedly so.
The dinnertime Gastronomic Experience features a five-course menu and a choice of more than 180 wines, but you’ll fare just as well at lunch. Menu items are to denote locality and include pizza (with a luxe twist, thanks to truffle and fontina), pasta, fresh fish and salads. Crispy salmon sushi is a highlight and all is beautifully presented on a mixture of slate, earthenware and china dishes.
It’s also where you’ll find the lavish breakfast buffet: we dine al fresco on the cool leafy terrace. For an authentically Brazilian experience, try an açai bowl with peanut butter or the guava and cheese pastries, the perfect way to kick off a day exploring the city, including its Jewish heritage.
Brazil is home to 120,000 Jews, around half living in São Paulo. First arriving in Brazil in the 16th century, most were forced converts (Marranos) fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. However, the Portuguese colony was largely unfavourable to religious minorities and Jewish life remained limited. It was only during the brief spell of more tolerant Dutch rule in the mid1600s that the first Brazilian Jewish community emerged, in Recife in the northeast.
After Brazil’s independence in 1822 and the first Brazilian constitution, granting freedom of religion, Jewish immigration intensified. Initially, Moroccan Jews arrived, on the back of the growing rubber industry, followed later by Eastern European Jews escaping pogroms, then Nazi Germany. The 1950s saw an influx of North African Jews, resulting in a community that’s a mixture of Ashkenazi and Sephardi.