Santos: see selection of the best restaurants – 11/19/2023 – Tourism

Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, with its cloudy beaches and the port’s ships passing on the horizon is not what comes to mind when we imagine an idyllic destination by the sea. But there is a certain charm to the city, from the modernist buildings from the second half of the 20th century to a renewed gastronomic scene.

“We missed a wine bar in Santos, an easy, simple place to go after leaving the beach”, says Rafael Cursino, the name behind Merlô, Vinho & Bossa, a bar that offers glasses from R$10 to R$39 in a 1920s house on a street closed to cars in the Gonzaga neighborhood. According to him, the price variation attracts a public that changes profile on the weekends, when locals are no longer the majority and the bar starts to fill up with tourists.

The desire to resume gastronomic tourism that has been lost in recent decades seems to motivate celebrity chef Dario Costa, who left the reality shows MasterChef and Mestre do Sabor to sign the menu for the Paru restaurants, inside Market do Peixe, in Ponta da Praia , and Madê Cozinha, in the Boqueirão neighborhood.

According to Costa, Paru, more accessible than the other restaurant, is a kind of “seafood restaurant”, which serves shrimp, squid and vegetables breaded in chickpea flour in a paper cone accompanied by tartar sauce (R$ 68) — the idea is to grab and eat while shopping in the market.

The customer can also assemble a tray with seafood cooked on the barbecue — the highlights are matured tuna (R$ 115), squid (R$ 60) and the fish of the day (R$ 60).

This fish, in fact, is from the same day, reflecting the seasonal variation of a single fishing boat that Costa has as a supplier. “Snapper and sea bass do not represent all fish”, says the chef, who values ​​local species, some of which are out of fashion on menus, so much so that his fish shop, Açadogue do Mar, in Paru, proudly prints the phrase “on the wall” We don’t have salmon.”

In a more affluent neighborhood of the city, already focusing on haute cuisine, Madê serves yellow xaréu, a fish with purple flesh that is rarely used in restaurants. It appears in dishes such as temaki, made with crispy nori cone, dry wasabi curd and sweet and sour ginger (R$44). The strong-flavored fish is also the main ingredient in the dish with the so-called banana scales — the fillet is served in a white wine sauce with vongoles, wrapped in banana chips and peach palm (R$ 108). It’s a nod from the chef to caiçara culture.

Costa, who was born in Santos and now lives in Guarujá, a neighboring city, reaffirms his origins and made a point of including the reinterpretation of popular classics such as the bakery dream, which in Madê turns into an octopus dream, made with the sweet dough and roasted clam filling. The starter is served with a pepper vinaigrette and fermented pepper (R$ 40).

There is also creamy cod, prepared in-house and served over fried polenta with cassava and flying fish roe (R$ 36).

Madê’s tasting menu also has a reinterpretation of beef Wellington with seared tuna instead of meat. The fish is wrapped in mushrooms, green leaves and tuna bacon made in-house, all served with peach palm puree and catuaba sauce. The ten-course dinner costs R$300 or R$456 if paired with wines from small producers in the south of the country.

The cocktail menu, however, is not up to par with the dishes, but it is something that has been rethought and will be changed by mixologists Aline Araújo and Marcelo Malanconi, names behind Hideout, a speakeasy-style bar in the Boqueirão neighborhood. “Wait and see what we’re going to do in Madê”, says Malanconi, with a strong São Paulo accent, while serving a glass of La Garde de Nuit (R$45), a mead made in-house.

Malanconi, who moved from the capital to the coast about four years ago, decided to open the bar due to the lack of offers in the city. “We went to São Paulo and met people from Santos at SubAstor [bar no bairro da Bela Vista, na capital paulista]. Going to my parents’ house [em Santos]I saw this place for rent, and we decided to open Hideout.”

Not surprisingly, Hideout’s counter follows the same design as the São Paulo bar, a declared influence of Malanconi. The house-made drinks, like those from São Paulo, are great — from reinterpretations like the Wanna Be (R$45), a negroni in which the gin becomes foam over Campari and vermouth, to the Coronation (R$55), made with sherry and dry vermouth. The latter arrives perfectly at the table, without being diluted, unlike many trendy bars in the capital.

In addition to cocktails and dishes dominated by fish, shellfish and crustaceans, it is also possible to eat a good steak with beer in Santos, at the recently opened Parrilla Bom Beef.

“The natural thing would be to work with fish, but I come from a family of traders and grew up in my uncle’s butcher shops”, says Domingos dos Santos Neto, the Netão Bom Beef meat influencer, saying that he supervised the family’s four butcher shops, one in São Vicente and three in Santos.

Netão has become an internet personality and his image is literally stamped on the meats and products he licenses in around 150 butcher shops and 70 franchised burger restaurants across the country.

In Santos, where he was born, he opened the first and, to date, only barbecue restaurant under his supervision. There is no way to find a defect in the house’s meats. The aged steak (R$ 290) serves the house-style roasted cut — to the point for less. The dish arrives in an iron pan with potatoes. The wagyu chorizo ​​(R$290) is another restaurant flagship.

Family ties, from Santos natives Dario Costa and Netão to the Hideout open around the corner from their parents’ house, seem to guide news in the city. “Everyone has someone in Santos, somehow ends up coming or visiting”, says Victor Ladaga, who shares the command of Revo Manufactory with her husband Vinícius Ferreira, a mix of restaurant and artisanal bakery in Ponta da Praia.

He opened the business in his parents’ garage. The couple organized a Saturday and Sunday brunch for friends and friends of friends, until they moved and arrived at their current address. Revo, after an online fundraiser, raised funds to occupy a traditional two-story building from the 1960s with the entire facade studded with period tablets, which was renovated by the São Paulo office Estúdio Memola. “Everything that is original we never needed to change,” says Ladaga.

The house became famous for its brunch. On the menu, there is a reinterpretation of Benedictine eggs, here replacing the brioche with yam bread, a traditional Santos recipe made in Revo’s own bakery, with shredded duck with black tucupi, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce (R$ 69). Ferreira’s favorite is the breakfast burrito, made with sheet bread and stuffed with boursin cheese, bean paste, scrambled eggs, seasoned meat, roasted tomato and cilantro (R$65).

Mimosas cost R$25, which makes life and pocket money easier for those who refuse to drink just one drink during a meal. Another highlight of the cocktail menu, the Cajuzana (R$45), made with sherry, cajuína, cambuci cordial and lemon, is quite refreshing with a slight acidity. If there is too much in the drinks, Revo’s milfoil (R$ 32) is a great corrective.

The confectionery, in fact, also transforms into Santos. In addition to Revo, the city also has Garni Lab, which, under the command of chef Beatriz Salles, creates a menu that changes weekly using seasonal ingredients. Eating a sweet treat before leaving can always encourage you to come back.

Merlô, Wine & Bossa
R. Othon Feliciano, 10, Gonzaga, Santos, SP. Tuesday to Friday, from 5pm to midnight; Sat., from 3pm to midnight

Paru
Av. Gov. Mário Covas Júnior, 3050, Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP. Tues. to Sat., from 9am to 6pm; Sun., from 9am to 5pm

Sea Butcher
Av. Gov. Mário Covas Júnior, 3050, Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP. Tues. to Sun., from 9am to 5pm

Madê Kitchen
R. Minas Gerais, 93, Boqueirão, Santos, SP. Tuesday to Thursday, from 12pm to 10:30pm; Fri to Sat, from 12pm to 11pm; Sun., from 12pm to 5pm

Hideout
R. Bahia, 116, Gonzaga, Santos, SP. Tuesday to Thursday, from 7pm to midnight; Fri to Sat, from 7pm to 2am. Reservation required

Revo Manufactory
Av. Dr. Epitácio Pessoa, 737, Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP. Monday to Friday, from 12pm to 11pm; Sat, from 10am to 11pm; Sun., from 10am to 10pm

Garni Lab
Av. Dr. Epitácio Pessoa, 737, Ponta da Praia, Santos, SP. Wed. to Sat., from 1pm to 7pm