read the chef’s exclusive interview after leaving Obst.

Is this the end of the Lenin Palhano era in Curitiba’s gastronomy? That, only the future will tell. The fact is that after an intense year, in which he opened five operations within Grupo Obst., Palhano is now leaving for a period of at least four months in Brasília. There, he will act as a consultant for B.Hotel and start his project Lênin Palhano Hospitalidade e Gastronomia. The columnist of Good Gourmet Dani Machado chatted with Lenin last Wednesday (1st) at Sambiquira Bar and shared with us some of the moments of the conversation.

The chat took place a little before other guests arrived for Lenin’s farewell to Curitiba. Famous chefs in the city, such as Claudia Krauspenhar, Ivo Lopes and Celso Freire, attended the meeting. Businesswoman Carol Nacli, owner of Nomaa, where Palhano worked for seven years, also appeared at the farewell.

In this interview with Dani Machado, Palhano told more about his new project outside Curitiba, talked about the future and also gave more details about the decision announced last week to leave Grupo Obst., a project he had been leading since 2020 with businessman Marcelo empty. Check out:

Lenin, last year, at the time of Ninna’s inauguration, you said that you had a whole design that would be the Obst Group. ready. Did you manage to deliver everything you had planned?

The first step yes. And it was done quite successfully. I was very happy with the result we ended up delivering.

So why the decision to leave the group?

Things did not go administratively as I learned and as I like them to go. I left a very organized company, which was Nomaa, where the level of organization was incredible. And the administrative body of Obst. did not give me the same. It was undermining me. Then came the decision not to participate in this work format anymore.

On the day of the announcement of his departure from the Obst Group. you also announced a new project: A Lênin Palhano Hospitalidade e Gastronomia. What exactly is this project?

The idea is to transform everything I’ve built to date into a brand that is myself. I need to strengthen my name, my personal brand and what I believe in. And apply this, mainly, in the day to day work. The kitchen environment is a bit harsh and in recent years I have felt the need to evolve in this regard. It’s something I need to improve and I also think it’s the great challenge of the medium. How are we going to deliver quality, high-level cuisine that also provides quality of life for the people who are delivering this service?

What do you take from the Nomaa experience to this new project?

It was seven years there. The great experience I had at Nomaa was about organizational management and hospitality, understanding that the hotel market is a market with a lot of potential. These are the traits that I carry: hospitality and the dynamics of organized work.

And the idea is to take this project to Brazil?

The first step is Brasilia. It will be four months there to start my company within a big project that is the B.Hotel, which has a great structure. That excited me too, because I like working with robust structures like that. Leaving Curitiba also weighed on my decision. I needed to see a new market, with new people, new consumers and I also wanted to return to the hotel business.

But do you have plans to return to Curitiba?

For now, I’m staying in Brasilia.

And plans to have your own restaurant?

I have that for sure.

More like Obst., Ninna or something more fast food, like Ottro?

In my conception, the Obst. alone, economically, it makes no sense. He made sense within the Obst Group. because you have more commercial restaurants, with more comprehensive strategies for the public, more inclusive and democratic. The Obst. within the group it made a lot of sense in terms of brand positioning, consolidation with the press and personal satisfaction for me as well. But, for sure, if I do another restaurant, it won’t be like Obst. Because it doesn’t make sense alone, it has to be part of a larger corporate body. Having only him is going against the tide in financial terms and I need to think about that too.

I asked you about Nomaa, now I’m going to ask you about the Obst Group. What do you take away from your experience at Grupo Obst.?

It was a f… MBA for life.

And what did you learn in this MBA and would you do differently now in relation to Grupo Obst.?

I would create a strong governing body right from the start and grow more organized.