Associação dos Restaurantes da Boa Memória reaches the whole country

Have you ever thought about taking a souvenir after a good meal? This is the proposal of the ARBL – Associação dos Restaurantes da Boa Memória –, which in 2023 will have 87 associated restaurants in different regions of the country. The customer takes an exclusive ceramic dish from the restaurant after eating the meal featured on the menu at one of the associated establishments.

With nearly 30 years of history, Boa Memória, born in 1994 in Petrópolis (RJ), aims to promote Brazilian cuisine and seek new ways to support and give visibility to restaurants. It also proposes leveraging the sector’s diversity by valuing the characteristics of regional cuisine and associativism.

In Curitiba, in 2023, the following restaurants are among the associates: Cantina do Délio, Chalet Suisse, Ernesto Ristorante and Quintana Gastronomia. Since 2012, chef and restaurateur Délio Canabrava, owner of Cantina do Délio and director of the ARBL’s South and Southeast region, has sold around 2,000 dishes a year. Each piece has an original and exclusive design, handmade in Petrópolis (RJ). “The restaurant offers a recipe and a design that can be suggested or even made by the restaurant owner himself”, he says.

Canabrava comments that, over the years, since he has been a member of the association, the most successful dishes are paintings in honor of the capital of Paraná. Among the drawings, the sights of Curitiba, such as the Museu do Oscar Niemeyer, Ópera de Arame and Jardim Botânico were some of the pieces that had the greatest sales, since the majority of the public at Boa Memória at Casa do Délio, according to the restaurateur, is made up of tourists.

As each associated restaurant has dishes with an original and exclusive design, consumers take home a souvenir of their gastronomic experience. That’s what Anesio Fassina reports, who started collecting the Boa Memória pieces in the mid-2000s and today has around 2,300 plates from the collection hanging on the walls of his private property in São Paulo. For him, collecting ceramic pieces is a way to reinforce the memory of the restaurant and the city visited, in addition to having an affective value.

“The motivation to collect is much more than the plate itself. I never go to a restaurant alone. I always go with friends and family. At the table you also create friendships, you reinforce love”, says Fassina.

The collector, an engineer by training, is the author of the book “Pratos da Boa Memória”, where in addition to bringing the recipes of each of the ARBL member restaurants, he presents 2,150 illustrations of themed and handcrafted ceramic dishes, bringing a portrait of gastronomy of the country and its regionalisms.

For Fassina, it is difficult to choose the most special dish. “There are several dishes that left an impression on me, it’s like asking which friend is your favorite, there’s no way. They all bring back wonderful memories,” she comments.

According to information on the ARBL website, more than one million and two hundred thousand dishes of Boa Memória have already been manufactured. “It is the Association’s main product and is important in fulfilling a mission: through its figurative representation, to leave a unique gastronomic experience in the consumer’s memory” (Information from the website of the Associação de Restaurantes da Boa Memória).

How do restaurants participate?

To become members of the Associação de Restaurantes da Boa Memória, restaurant owners must be in charge of the business, that is, present in the daily activities of the establishment, in addition to having at least 5 years of operation. Another criterion is not being included in the fast food segment. Once these requirements are met, they can make a formal application for membership at the ARBL secretariat, along with the documents requested by the institution.

In a second moment, the restaurants will receive anonymous visits from an area director to assess aspects related to service, quality of service, cleanliness and presentation. After approval by the board of directors of the association, the restaurant pays BRL 3,000 to become a member and a monthly fee of BRL 300 reais. Adhesions take place annually at the ARBL Congress, in the second half of each year.

The event is traveling and takes place in different cities. In 2023, it takes place between the 25th and 27th of September, in Florianópolis (SC) and is expected to gather around 150 people.

More about the Associação dos Restaurantes da Boa Memória

Founded in 1994 by Italian chef Dânio Braga, ARBL is a Brazilian version of Unione Ristoranti del Buon Ricordo, born in 1964, in Italy. In Brazil, the association’s headquarters located in Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, has members in most regions of the country, with a network of highly representative chefs and entrepreneurs.

Service:

Good Memory Restaurant Association

Address: Rua Dona Laura – Rio Branco, Porto Alegre (RS)

Whatsapp: (51) 99472-8480

Email: [email protected]

To check out the ARBL member restaurants in Curitiba and in other cities in the country, visit the Boa Memória website.

If the restaurant wants to be a member, the information can be found here.