First of all I’d like to say I’ve been posting here for a while but this is the first time I write something about my country and I’m very glad to do it.
Disclaimer: I’m not from Rio, I’m from São Paulo, and both cities are often considered rivals (we still have more Michelin stars lol). Still, I bow to this great restaurant in Rio.
Dinner started with a series of snacks containing different brazilian roots, vegetables and nuts, mostly grown in a local farm owned by the restaurant: mandioca, pecan, string bean, kale. All nine snacks had very clever use of vegetables, and though some of them had meat or fish (the tumeric biscuit with wagyu tartare or the uni chawanmushi), all animal protein was clearly an addition to the very distinc vegetable flavours and fit perfectly in it.
In other words: vegetables led the way, meat went along with it. I’m a very carnivore diner and often have the quite judgeable use of checking what the meat courses are before deciding whether to go or not to an expensive/Michelin starred restaurant, but Lasai proved me this is far from being the most important criteria.
Yes, they do use meat and fish – and the great pork dish, which was the third and last main course after the snacks, shows they do know how to use it. But the dinner as a whole has a clear vegetable approach that works remarkably well. And for me, a restaurant that has something to show in terms of discourse which does indeed makes sense, while still serving delicious food, is something that should be valued.
by voabarros