Metzi

"São Paulo isn't known for its Mexican food, but Metzi is working to change that. They add Brazilian ingredients to Mexican classics, like tres leches with cupuaçu—an Amazonian fruit with a white chocolate flavor—and a tlayuda with a heavy layer of courgette leaves and herbs. Skip the tasting menu, and instead focus on a few a la carte highlights. The hake tostada with avocado and spicy salsa is impeccable, and the lamb barbacoa is steeped in a rich, deep-brown sauce. It makes for a killer blue corn taco topped with raw onion, avocado, and more salsa. " - tome morrissy swan

"São Paulo isn't known for its Mexican food, but Metzi is working to change that. They add Brazilian ingredients to Mexican classics, like tres leches with cupuaçu—an Amazonian fruit with a white chocolate flavor—and tlayuda with a heavy layer of courgette leaves and herbs. Skip the tasting menu, and instead focus on a few á la carte highlights. The hake tostada with avocado and spicy salsa is impeccable, and the lamb barbacoa is steeped in a rich, deep-brown sauce. It makes for a killer blue corn taco topped with raw onion, avocado, and more salsa." - Tomé Morrissy-Swan

"Although the fusion of Brazilian and Mexican cuisine is not an immediately obvious one, the end result at Metzi is really impressive, thanks to the skill of chefs Luana Sabino and Eduardo Nava Ortiz, who met while working in a restaurant in New York and decided to combine their respective culinary talents for the benefit of their guests. Their cooking is a combination of Mexican techniques and traditions and Brazilian ingredients, with careful attention always paid to seasonality. Start, perhaps, with an exquisite tostada (crab, fish or Campechana), followed by barbecued lamb cooked according to pre-Hispanic techniques, then round things off with a refined Buñuelo doughnut served with camomile ice cream and drizzled with Jataí honey. Several vegan options are also available." - Michelin Inspector

"Husband-and-wife team Mexican chef Eduardo Ortiz and Brazilian chef Luana Sabino met while working at New York’s Cosme, before deciding to create their own project in São Paulo. In an unfussy but elegant space dominated by natural materials (wood, leather, and wicker), they combine Mexican recipes and techniques with local Brazilian produce. Some highlights are the soft shell crab with chicatana ants mole and palm heart (a ubiquitous local ingredient) and a version of tres leches with foam made from cupuaçu (a native fruit)." - Rafael Tonon