First Bar by the award-winning chef Giovanna Grossi favors recipes with soul and freshness
Pastry, cupcake, french fries, coxinha. It could be the menu of any bar, but A Casa da Esquina – Goles and Mordes lives between the lines. The pastries are paprika chips (R$ 18) or ricotta with smoked calamari vinaigrette and Sicilian lemon (R$ 25, two pieces), the cassava cake is accompanied with bottled butter béarnaise (R$ 28, four pieces) and potatoes fried in “tablets”, receives artisanal cream cheese from San Paolo and crispy loin, traditional Tuscan sausage (R$ 32).
Ah, the coxinha is the tail of the vaccinia (R$ 25, two pieces) and a “little event”, as chef Giovanna Grossi, lover of diminutives, would say: “The dough takes the icing from the tail of the vaccinia, which is cooked for almost a day, to absorb the flavor and break it down completely. Then we prepare a strong and well-seasoned smoked pepper to accompany it.
The only female judge at the Bocuse d’Or, the world’s leading gastronomic competition for young chefs, the 32-year-old chef graduated from the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon. In France he worked in starred restaurants, such as Le Taillevent and La Dame de Pic. About to celebrate five years of his Animus, he opens his first bar.
The 14-month eternity of the work is compensated in a sunny environment divided between a balcony, an entrance, just in front of the kitchen, and the living room, in the upper part of the house, marked by lace and craftsmanship from the Ilha do Ferro, in direct connection with the Alagoas de Giovanna.
The intimacy of the new bar lies in the welcoming service and in the soundtrack created by partner Vanessa Civiero, already busy with DJs and samba groups to cheer up Sunday sunsets. It also lives on in the “small plates”, which refer to the origins of the Animus.
The dishes grew (physically) in the neighboring restaurant, but the idea of sharing food never left the heart of the chef, who transferred the concept to A Casa da Esquina. Called “bitefuls”, the snacks are divided into sections: all weather, preserves, cured meats, fried, baked, grilled and desserts.
The fried foods mentioned must have already made you hungry, but the tapenade (R$ 35), half cold and half preserved, deserves to be on this list. The rustic olive pâté with mandarin and cashews is placed on a homemade mascarpone mattress. “We cook the fresh cream with natural yogurt at 40°C for 6 hours, vacuum-packed. It keeps it at room temperature for 8 hours and drains it in the refrigerator for a day and a half”, says Sofia Lerner, director of Giovanna. right-hand woman at the stove.
Mascarpone, it is worth remembering, will soon give life to a Brazilian tiramisu. For now, the whey left over from its production helps ferment the pizzas for up to 72 hours. The pasta, sandwiches, combine wheat and corn flours and can include smoked burrata and nduja (R$56) or goat cheese, arugula and raw ham (R$56).
From the grill, the oyster with roasted garlic butter, peppers and lemon zest is a must (R$28, two pieces). Even the only sweetness, the foam of the pudding (R $ 28), is irresistible. Inherited from the Animus, it was born as a pudding gone wrong: “I blended it with milk and put it in the siphon, I made a caramel and a lemon sablé biscuit, to make it less sweet and give it a little crunch . It became a success.”
To harmonize, there’s the Cafezin (oak-aged cachaça, coffee- and Campari-infused vermouth and buttery coffee biscuit R$42). “People really like Animus drinks and we manage to bring the Brazilian with them, here we do the same thing, but in a more relaxed and complementary way,” explains Giovanna.
Curated by bartender Pedro Piton, the drinks, or rather the “sips”, include other new cocktails, such as the Coentro, the To Dentro (tequila with chilli, coriander and lemon, R$36) and the Dança do Maxixe (gin, vodka with coriander seeds, sherry and pickled cucumbers, R$42). “Casa da Esquina was created so that people feel comfortable. Everything is really delicious,” says the chef. We confirm.
The house on the corner
R. Vupabussu, 349, Pinheiros. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 6pm to 11pm; Fri. and Saturday. from 12:00 to 23:00; Sun. from 12:00 to 18:00. Telephone (11) 96652-6614
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.
