[SAO PAULO, BRAZIL] — Nicely tucked into the leafy Jardins neighborhood is the famous restaurant Figueira Rubaiyat, an outdoor restaurant set under about the biggest tree I’ve ever seen — a 200 year old banyan tree planted in the 1890s

There must be seats for a couple hundred people underneath its limbs, with an ingenious glass canopy built under it all. I first noticed it while taking a short walk from the Fasano, right around the corner and instantly knew I had to come back.

I was there over a Monday lunch, and as I sat there a host of SP’s business elite came to have long lunch meetings over grilled steak and some of the most attentive service I’ve seen at any restaurant….I take a dip of the appetizers and instantly a fresh plate arrived to replenish.  I actually had to tell them to stop replenishing.  

I love purpose-built devices. This one is just for the house made pretzel-shaped focaccia.

Great choices of grilled steak that you can choose from which country and method of raising (Uruguay, Argentinian, grassfed, Brazilian, etc.). Like a wine list, but for beef. You can get a sampling, each grilled piece comes with a flag of origin in it.

Read about it here on Trip Advisor and Frommer’s, which calls it “the most beautiful restaurant in Sao Paulo.

You should also check out Gero, just a block up the street in the Jardins neighborhood. Excellent Italian food, impeccable service. Great people watching.  Also owned by the Fasano family…man oh man, do they know how to do it right.

— Last Visited March 2012 —