The Conjunto Nacional restaurant begins rituals on Wednesdays with new recipes
“Afternoon tea is a moment of the day that we don’t pay much attention to, due to everyone’s pace of life, but a cosmopolitan city like São Paulo has this space,” says Andrea Vieira. The chef of A Casa de Antonia, an all-day restaurant in the Conjunto Nacional, is so sure of this that she’s launching a new afternoon experience.
From September 4, always on Wednesdays, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the Curitiba restaurant will offer a special menu, with sandwiches, tea and desserts. “I love crazy things, small things and at afternoon tea we can play with a greater number of experiences in smaller portions,” explains Andrea.
By more experiences we mean welcome sparkling wine or pink lemonade accompanied by cold fennel and pea soup, shrimp tartare and wasabi whipped cream. Then comes confit tomatoes, cheese scone, crumbly bacon biscuit, walnut butter and Roquefort cream with grilled grapes.
Right there, I could spend the rest of the day. But then comes one of the tasting favorites: the trio of mini gougères. Using school mornings at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and chilly afternoons in London, the chef at A Casa de Antonia has crafted a version of this French cheese bread in the shape of a mini éclair and created three fillings: aged mignon, horseradish aioli and arugula; crab with guacamole; and shrimp with beetroot mayo.
The savory options continue with the salmon gravlax sandwiches, caper and dill sauce, the cucumber with ricotta and eggs and the radish paté. A step that can be skipped towards the sweets.
The first of all is the rain cake, a childhood memory, warm in the heart of the chef and in the portion that arrives at the table, dusted with sugar and cinnamon. The tarts, on the other hand, are miniature tarts (figs and Port wine, pecans, strawberries with pistachio and Sicilian lemon with meringue) that hark back to the origins of A Casa de Antonia, when it was a successful “torteria” in Curitiba.
In fact, it is from the capital of Paraná that the three tea blends served in the afternoon ritual are brought: one based on apple, red fruits, lemon and beetroot, another with green tea, pineapple and peach and another blend of herbs, including mint. “Brazilians prefer coffee, so they can opt for a coffee or a cappuccino,” warns Andrea.
There are also fresh madeleines and a very moist cake with olive oil, orange, rosemary and blueberries. These two temptations of not exactly minimal dimensions… To the point that, at this point, you might feel guilty: I spent the afternoon eating and I couldn’t resist the little glass?
“It’s normal, who has all this time to dedicate to eating something really good in the middle of the afternoon? But you can have a work meeting with a nice table in front of you, eat, talk. It’s not necessary to do everything locked up at home. the office”, consoles Andrea.
Indeed, you can take your computer and enjoy the delicacies. However, feeling like an avid tourist on a naturally chaotic afternoon in the capital of São Paulo is much more pleasant. Of course, this comes at a price: R$165 per person with 13% service.
Antonia’s house
Av. Paulista, 2073, Consolación. Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Reservations: (11) 93952-5565
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
