Nica Café has a menu inspired by northeastern cuisine – 04/07/2024 – Restaurants

Nica Café, located in Jardins, in São Paulo, has renewed its menu. The restaurant, which serves coffee all day and options of dishes and salads for lunch, now offers a menu inspired by northeastern cuisine.

Pernambuco natives Carla Konrad and Niege Chaves, owners of the place, invited chef Abdo Vila Nova, who runs four restaurants in Recife – including the famous Castelus, located at the Instituto Ricardo Brennand.

The new dishes were designed to incorporate ingredients brought from Recife into a light menu that can be better understood by the São Paulo palate. With butter cheese, shrimp, sun-dried meat and other components reminiscent of dishes from northeastern cuisine, the new menu presents the flavors of the northeast to local customers without relying on heavy dishes.

Vila Nova’s menu features four new starters, with a highlight being the shrimp moqueca broth (R$28), served with breaded shrimp, quail egg, fish cubes, shrimp breaded in coconut and gherkin pickles. Among the six new main dish options, the highlight is the cashew tuna (R$89), which features seared fish served with sweet potato puree with chestnuts and cashew sauce, finished with cashew tartar.

The atmosphere at Nica Café is also an experience in itself. The mansion surrounded by plants is welcoming, with a large lounge with rustic and elegant decor. On weekends, brunch is served on the rooftop with a retractable roof.

In addition to the new dishes, the house also has an artisanal bakery, which serves naturally fermented breads, such as baguette, brioche, rye and ciabatta.