São Paulo Food Guide: The Restaurant Capital of South America

São Paulo is the restaurant capital of the southern hemisphere — a city of 22 million people where the extraordinary ethnic diversity of Brazilian immigration has produced a food scene of unparalleled breadth. The city has more Japanese restaurants outside Japan than anywhere else in the world; the largest Arab diaspora outside the Middle East; the largest Italian community outside Italy; and a Brazilian foundation of feijoada, churrasco, and açaí that underpins everything. The Liberdade neighbourhood, São Paulo's Japanese enclave, offers the finest Japanese food in Latin America — from the sushi counters of Kinoshita to the ramen shops of Consolação. Feijoada, Brazil's national dish of black beans slow-cooked with pork, is traditionally served on Saturdays: Tordesilhas in Consolação serves a version that may be the best in Brazil. The Mercado Municipal (Mercadão), a 1933 Art Nouveau market, is famous for its mortadella sandwiches and fruit stalls. Alex Atala's D.O.M., consistently in the World's 50 Best, puts Brazilian Amazonian ingredients through haute cuisine.