Restaurants (Boni's Picks)

Marcelo Mesquita

@Marcelo

20Items

The restaurants curated by Boni (José Bonifácio de Oliveira Sobrinho), the Brazilian TV pioneer turned gastronome and co-author of the Boni & Amaral restaurant guides. A mix of his Brazilian regulars and the international houses he has championed for decades. Only addresses confirmed open in September 2026.

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Restaurants (Boni's Picks) — 10 items
Name	Chef's Name	Owner Name	Established Year	Opening Hours	Average Rating	Parking Availability	Resumo	O que pedir	Porque ir?	Comentário	City	Country	Full Address	Contact Number	Instagram Page	Website Address	Cuisine	Why Boni Picks It
1Fasano	Luca Gozzani (executive chef, Grupo Fasano)	Fasano family / Grupo Fasano (hotel with JHSF)	1947	Mon–Thu 7pm–midnight; Fri–Sat 7pm–1am; Sun 12pm–5pm	4.6 (Google)	Valet parking	The Fasano family's flagship Italian dining room inside Hotel Fasano, in a Isay Weinfeld-designed space that has set the standard for fine dining in São Paulo since 1947.	The house-made pasta — tagliolini or the ravioli of the day — followed by a classic secondo and the wine list's older Italian labels.	It is the room where São Paulo closes deals and celebrates; formal service, deep cellar and a kitchen that has not slipped in decades.	Group traces back to Vittorio Fasano (early 1900s); the restaurant itself dates to 1947 and moved to the Jardins hotel in 2003.	São Paulo	Brazil	Rua Vittorio Fasano, 88 — Jardins, São Paulo/SP 01428-020	+55 11 3896-4000	https://instagram.com/fasano	https://fasano.com.br/gastronomia/fasano-jardins/	Fine-dining Italian	The benchmark Italian room in São Paulo since 1982 — the address he returns to when the occasion has to be right.
2Maní	Helena Rizzo (chef-owner), with Willem Vandeven in the kitchen	Helena Rizzo and founding partners (Maní / Manioca)	2006	Tue–Fri 12pm–3pm, 7pm–10:30pm; Sat 1pm–4pm, 7:30pm–11pm; Sun 1pm–4:30pm; Mon closed	4.5 (Google)	Valet parking	A converted house in Jardim Paulistano where Helena Rizzo built a Michelin-starred kitchen out of Brazilian roots, herbs and tubers rather than imported luxury.	The tasting menu; à la carte, the oyster with tapioca pearls and the mangarito dishes are the signatures.	The clearest argument in São Paulo that Brazilian produce can carry a world-class menu, served in a garden-like room without ceremony.	Book well ahead; the back garden tables are the ones to ask for.	São Paulo	Brazil	Rua Joaquim Antunes, 210 — Jardim Paulistano, São Paulo/SP 05415-010	+55 11 3081-6151	https://instagram.com/manimanioca	https://www.restaurantemani.com.br/	Contemporary Brazilian	Helena Rizzo's Michelin-starred house — proof for him that Brazilian produce can carry a world-class tasting menu.
3Jardim de Napoli	n/d — family kitchen, no named chef	Buonerba family (third generation)	1949	Mon–Fri 11am–3pm, 6pm–11pm; Sat 11am–11pm; Sun 11am–10pm	4.6 (Google)	Valet parking	A 1949 Italian cantina in Vila Buarque, run by the same family for three generations, famous far beyond its neighbourhood for one dish.	The polpettone à parmigiana with spaghetti — order one for two people and nothing else.	It is the counterweight on Boni's list: no stars, no tasting menu, just a dish São Paulo has been queueing for since the 1940s.	No reservations at peak hours; expect a queue on Friday and Saturday nights.	São Paulo	Brazil	Rua Martinico Prado, 463 — Vila Buarque, São Paulo/SP 01224-010	+55 11 3666-3022	https://instagram.com/jardimdenapoli	https://www.jardimdenapoli.com.br/	Italian cantina	The city's most famous polpettone à parmigiana; an unpretentious cantina he keeps on the list beside three-star rooms.
4Kinoshita	n/d — culinary direction by Marcelo Fernandes (Tsuyoshi Murakami left in 2017)	Marcelo Fernandes (Gastronomia MF)	2008	Mon–Thu 12pm–3pm, 7pm–11pm; Fri 12pm–3pm, 7pm–midnight; Sat 12pm–4pm, 7pm–midnight; Sun closed	4.6 (Google)	Valet parking	A kappo house in Vila Nova Conceição where the meal is built course by course at the counter, Michelin-starred for nine consecutive years.	The kappo tasting menu at the counter, with the Krug pairing — it is the only Krug Ambassade in South America.	Precision over spectacle: no sushi theatre, just a quiet room and a kitchen that treats Japanese technique as a discipline.	Murakami, the chef who made the house famous, left in 2017 — the star has survived the change.	São Paulo	Brazil	Rua Jacques Félix, 405 — Vila Nova Conceição, São Paulo/SP 04509-000	+55 11 3849-6940	https://instagram.com/kinoshitarestaurante	https://restaurantekinoshita.com.br/	Japanese kappo	Kappo precision rather than sushi theatre — Michelin-starred for nine straight years and still the quietest room in town.
5Vecchio Torino	Giuseppe La Rosa (chef-owner)	Giuseppe La Rosa, with his wife Manuela in the dining room	1994	Tue–Sat 12pm–3pm, 7pm–10pm; Sun 12pm–4pm; Mon closed	4.3 (Google)	n/d	A small family cantina in Pinheiros where the owner cooks and his wife runs the room — hand-made pasta and gnocchi, formal service, no concessions to fashion.	Whatever pasta is made that day, and the gnocchi; ask Giuseppe what came in fresh.	The kind of address a guide-writer keeps for himself: unchanged for thirty years and still cooked by the owner.	No website — reservations by phone or Instagram. It is in Pinheiros, not Itaim, despite what some listings say.	São Paulo	Brazil	Rua Tavares Cabral, 119 — Pinheiros, São Paulo/SP 05423-130	+55 11 3816-0592	https://instagram.com/vecchiotorinooficial	https://www.facebook.com/Vecchiotorino/	Italian	A family-run cantina with hand-made pasta and old-school service — the kind of place a guide-writer keeps for himself.
6Satyricon	Raphael Marques	Tolpiakow family (Bruno and Sandra Tolpiakow)	1986	Sun–Thu 12pm–midnight; Fri–Sat 12pm–1am	4.6 (Google)	Valet parking	Ipanema's seafood institution for four decades: whole fish on the grill, an iced display at the door and a dining room that has hosted most of Rio's public life.	The whole roasted fish in coarse salt, or the lobster linguine; start at the oyster bar.	Mediterranean seafood two blocks from the beach, done the same way since 1986 — the Rio address Boni names first.	Founding year varies across sources (1982–1986), including the restaurant's own site; an oyster bar was added recently.	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Rua Barão da Torre, 192 — Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro/RJ	+55 21 2521-0627	https://instagram.com/restaurante_satyricon	https://satyricon.com.br/	Mediterranean seafood	Rio's seafood institution since 1986 — whole roasted fish in a dining room that has hosted everyone worth hosting.
7Gero Rio	Luigi Moressa	Grupo Fasano (hotel operated with JHSF)	2020	Mon–Wed 12pm–3pm, 7pm–11pm; Thu to midnight; Fri–Sat 12pm–4pm, 7pm–1am; Sun 12pm–10pm	4.6 (Google)	Valet parking (hotel)	The Fasano group's Italian room on the ground floor of the Philippe Starck-designed Hotel Fasano, looking straight out at Ipanema beach.	The risotto of the day and the house-made pasta; lunch by the window is the point.	Fasano cooking with the best address in Rio — the combination that makes it a fixture rather than a hotel restaurant.	Gero took over the hotel's restaurant in September 2020, replacing Fasano Al Mare; the Gero brand has been in Rio since 2002.	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Avenida Vieira Souto, 80 — Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro/RJ 22420-002	+55 21 3202-4030	https://instagram.com/fasano	https://fasano.com.br/gastronomia/gero-rio/	Classic Italian	Fasano's Ipanema room facing the beach — house-made pasta and risotto with the best address in the city.
8Bar Jobi	n/d — traditional botequim, no named chef	Rocha family (third generation)	1956	Sun–Thu 11am–4am; Fri–Sat 11am–6am	4.4 (Google)	n/d	A Leblon counter open since 1956 and now listed as Rio heritage, pouring hundreds of litres of draught beer a day to a crowd that never changes.	Chope, the carne-seca pastel and the bolinho de bacalhau — standing at the counter.	The answer to anyone who assumes a gastronome only eats in starred rooms; it is where the neighbourhood actually goes.	Official website is offline; no reservations, and the counter fills from early evening.	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Avenida Ataulfo de Paiva, 1166 — Leblon, Rio de Janeiro/RJ 22440-035	+55 21 2274-0547	n/a	https://riotur.rio/en/onde_comer/jobi-2/	Carioca botequim	Open since 1956 and listed Rio heritage — the counter he names whenever someone assumes he only eats in starred rooms.
9Le Bernardin	Eric Ripert (chef and co-owner)	Eric Ripert and Maguy Le Coze	1986	Lunch Mon–Fri 12pm–2:30pm; dinner Mon–Thu 5:15pm–10:30pm, Fri–Sat to 11pm; Sun closed	4.6 (Tripadvisor)	Paid garage nearby	Eric Ripert's three-star Midtown room, built on a single idea: the fish should barely be touched, and everything else exists to serve it.	The tasting menu; from the carte, the barely-cooked and raw sections are where the kitchen makes its argument.	Four decades at the top of New York without changing its premise — the benchmark against which other seafood kitchens are measured.	Reserve a month out; jackets expected at dinner.	New York	USA	155 West 51st Street, New York, NY 10019	+1 212 554 1515	https://instagram.com/lebernardinny	https://www.le-bernardin.com	French seafood	Eric Ripert's three-star temple of barely-cooked fish — his first reservation on any New York trip.
10Per Se	Chad Palagi (chef de cuisine); Thomas Keller, chef/proprietor	Thomas Keller Restaurant Group	2004	Lunch Fri–Sun 11:30am–1pm; dinner nightly 5:30pm–9:30pm	4.6 (Tripadvisor)	Paid garage nearby and street parking	Keller's New York flagship on the fourth floor at Columbus Circle, a nine-course tasting menu served to a room that looks over Central Park.	The chef's tasting menu, opening with Oysters and Pearls — the dish the house is measured by.	A tasting menu of near-mechanical precision in one of the few New York rooms with a view worth the price.	Booked via Tock with a per-person deposit; releases open about two months ahead.	New York	USA	Deutsche Bank Center, 10 Columbus Circle, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019	+1 212 823 9335	https://instagram.com/perseny	https://www.thomaskeller.com/perseny	New American	Thomas Keller's Central Park tasting menu; Oysters and Pearls is the opening dish he measures others against.
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