Restaurants (Boni's Picks)

Marcelo MesquitaExpert

@Marcelo

20Items

9Likes

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.

See all 20 items Follow Marcelo MesquitaOpen in app

The list

Showing 1–10 of 20

Restaurants (Boni's Picks) — 10 items
Name	City	Country	Full Address	Contact Number	Instagram Page	Website Address	Cuisine	Why Boni Picks It	Chef's Name	Owner Name	Established Year	Opening Hours	Average Rating	Parking Availability	Resumo	O que pedir	Porque ir?	Comentário
1Fasano	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.	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.
2Maní	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.	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.
3Jardim de Napoli	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.	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.
4Kinoshita	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.	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.
5Vecchio Torino	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.	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.
6Satyricon	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.	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.
7Gero Rio	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.	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.
8Bar Jobi	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.	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.
9Le Bernardin	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.	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.
10Per Se	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.	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.
10 more items in this listSign up free to see them all, with every column and every photograph.Sign up free