Bars and kiosks in Rio go beyond foreign exchange and reach Brasília and São Paulo

The beer cooler with a bronze serpentine and 90 meters long, originally from the 1950s and the biggest relic of the Velho Adônis bar in Benfica, in the North Zone of Rio, “moved” to Brasília. The attraction arrived in the federal capital for the opening of the first branch away from the city of the bar, which is a cultural heritage of Rio in the seventies.

Novo Adônis, a Portuguese bar made in Rio, will open there at the end of this month, as anticipated in Ancelmo Gois’ column, and customers from the center of the country’s political power will be able to taste the most popular Portuguese snacks and dishes.

The famous bacalhau a lagareiro and octopus with bacon, for example, are listed on the menu, leaner in DF than the original. The space at the Brasilia branch will be larger than that of the headquarters: there will be 160 seats, with the capacity to host large events.

Adônis, however, is not the first Rio bar to become an export bar. The expansion of these symbols of the city has come in waves. Bar do Zeca, existing in Rio for eight years, arrived in São Paulo in 2023. The capital of São Paulo is also the address, since 2022, of Braca Bar, inspired by Bracarense, from Leblon.

Today, there are two units: one in Santana and the other in Itaim Bibi — a neighborhood that also houses the São Paulo version of the Rio de Janeiro-based Boteco Belmonte, owned by “collector of bars and restaurants” Antônio Rodrigues, today in charge of 26 establishments, most of them in Rio and five in Portugal.

Cultural differences

A few meters from Faria Lima, the branch sees a repeat of the furdúncio that has already become a Belmonte trademark in Dias Ferreira, Leblon, Praia do Flamengo or Lapa. But Rodrigues points out differences between the two cities.

— Business tourism is very strong in São Paulo. In Rio, there is more fun. This impacts seasonality differently from neighborhood to neighborhood. Having a bar in São Paulo is not for amateurs — says Rodrigues, who even had to close the doors of another Belmonte in Terra da Garoa, the one in Vila Madalena. — It’s difficult there. People look for places with music. This is not our beach.

In Brasília, the challenge is proportional. To make the proposal of Velho Adônis compatible with a less laid-back city than Rio, João Paulo Campos, chef and owner of the Portuguese bar, left the menu leaner and enhanced the view of the new business, in the AABR (Associação Atlética Banco de Brasília) club, in the Setor de Clubes Esportivos Sul (SCES), with a balcony that makes Lake Paranoá visible.

Unlike the bar with images of saints, stuffed animals with Vasco shields and walls made of old tiles, the mansion in Brasilia boasts more sophisticated architecture and decoration: staircase, vertical garden, glass windows and contemporary lighting. Rio’s boardwalk has references on the floor, and the image of Saint George appears in the classic blue print of Portuguese tiles.

— As Moacyr Luz says, in Rio you arrive at the bar, meet the guy next door and leave as his best man. In Brasília, the atmosphere is more formal. We tried to replicate as much of the original Adonis as possible, but perhaps he had a more modern look — admits Campos.

Another challenge is the logistics of delivering inputs. The location of Velho Adônis near Cadeg, in the North Zone, with a diversity of fishmongers and markets, opens up multiple possibilities for a varied menu.

— The menu at Velho Adãois has several different ingredients, and you can find a lot of seafood, my specialty. The prices are very affordable. In Brasília, many of these inputs are expensive. So, they will end up coming from outside. But we will create an authentic Portuguese bar. And despite being inside a club, there will be exclusive entry — explains the chef, partner of the holding company InteRCJ, located at the Mané Garrincha Stadium, in the federal capital, and Carla Rocha, owner of Carlota’s Beach Club, in Barra da Tijuca.

From the beach to the park

In another vein, kiosks on Rio’s waterfront have been replicated in parks in São Paulo. Pato com Laranja, which serves contemporary Asian food in Leblon and Barra, is scheduled to open in the middle of this month in Parque Villa-Lobos, in Alto de Pinheiros.

— The menu will follow the same essence as Rio. We feel that this is the time to take the brand to a strategic location, with an audience aligned with our style of gastronomy and experience. The idea was never to open for the sake of opening — says Pedro Tinoco, partner of his mother, chef Andréa Tinoco. — This movement highlights a new moment for the brand: growing with consistency, preserving its essence, but creating unique experiences at each address.

In the same park, the popular Espetto Carioca was installed last year, which in Rio de Janeiro has stores in the capital, in the Lagos Region, in Niterói and more. Throughout Brazil, there are more than 50 units. The bar belongs to the Impettus Group, which also has franchises for other brands such as Mané and Buteco Seu Rufino, created by Antônio Rufino from Ceará.

Tradition reinvented

Here in Rio, in three days Bracarense turns 65, a long-standing meeting point for intellectuals and bohemians such as the writer João Ubaldo Ribeiro and the musician Tom Jobim. The arrival of old age is celebrated with the arrival of new generations of the old Portuguese from Leblon, from 1961. The youngest children, the two units of Braca Bar in São Paulo, are children who experience discoveries, says Kadu Tomé, at the head of the Rio venture in Sampa:

— When I came here, the idea was to explore traditional references, but with freedom. The one from São Paulo is Bracarense in a jacket. If I put a counter with benches around it, no one would come. São Paulo natives reserve, they have time to sit down.

To enter a competitive market like São Paulo’s gastronomy, there are strategies. Bar members often shop together and participate in strategic conventions, such as the Food Club, which brought together dozens of traders this week in Brasília.

— The challenge of going to other places is great. When we get the courage, we show up and go, but it’s really difficult, man. This difference in culture seems small, but in everyday life it is complicated — reinforces Tomé.

The difficulty is, among others, because success does not repeat revenue. In Rio and São Paulo, draft beer is the flagship and gave Braca the title, for two years in a row, of the best in São Paulo in an Ambev competition.

Snacks, in turn, have varying favoritism in both cities: near the beach, cassava dumplings stuffed with shrimp and catupiry are popular and, near museums and parks, meat dumplings, a type of polpeta, are popular.

— I tried several times to put this snack in Rio and it didn’t sell — says Tomé.