mmm...chocolate

So I caved. I set out on this venture promising to avoid Macdonald’s at all costs (save for ice cream). But alas, I could not hold out any longer. The smell of those French fries just lured me in. But, in my own defense, at least I didn’t order the big Macpherson combo, I ordered the all new “McCalebresa” combo. Mmm…tasty. And dammit, I make no apologies for my complete and utter enjoyment of those fried batatas. However I fully recognize that my trip, and the two subsequent trips, to McD’s were more likely motivated by homesickness than any real craving.

But I have found one food item that I do find myself craving now: the petit gateau. Just about the best dessert a person – okay, a woman – could want. And every restaurant has their own version of this lovely item. Essentially, you take one of those disgustingly giant lava cakes we have at home, shrink it, add a hot chocolate sauce and ice cream to it. Variations include: passion fruit sauce; strawberry sauce; gelato instead of ice cream; and crushed nuts (farofa) in addition. My god. This is just about the best thing I’ve ever had. So in recent weeks I made it my mission to seek out the best petit gateau in Sao Paulo. Being a city of 20 million people and, subsequently, quite a few restaurants, it’s no simple task. But I was willing to make the personal sacrifice in order to provide you, the select few who are reading this blog, with this vitally important information.

So here it is. Kyla’s top 5 petit gateaux:

5 – My hotel. Okay, it’s actually not a very good petit gateau. The only reason it made it onto the list at all is the fact that it’s brought to my door. That fact alone makes it awesome. I won’t mention how many times it’s been brought to my door.
4 – This pub we went to after kicking some asbestos ass. Bar Veniza or something. All I really remember about this place was the horrible service. This is really saying something since in general, service here has been excellent. Apparently the waiters there just weren’t ‘in the mood’ to serve. Bad timing on our part I guess, hmph. Anyway, I fine gateau which was served with vanilla ice cream and passion fruit sauce instead of the traditional chocolate. The cake itself wasn’t the best, but the hot chocolate in the middle mixed incredibly well with passion fruit. I think. I remember saying that at the time, but we’d had several self-congratulatory beers at that point.
3- America. Yep, this is pretty much like the Simpson’s episode where they go to Japan only to eat at “America town.” However, I will say that their take on so-called American cuisine is not what you’d expect. One piece of advice when you visit Brazil: if you’re planning on ordering filet mignon – don’t. My friend Ana swears this is the best to be had, but she has not yet tried locations #2 and #1. However, it is indeed a fine purveyor of gateaux. The special touch is the addition of farofa.
2- Bar Matriz. Two. Count ‘em, two wee gateaus with a spectacular presentation. No frozen cakes here, freshly baked in the restaurant and served piping hot so the liquidy middle just smooshes all over the plate. Mmm…smooshy.
1- Freddisimo. Man oh man oh man. It’s probably an incredibly good thing I only found this place last week. It’s a gelateria in the food court of Ibirapuera shopping mall. The presentation is definitely lacking as it’s served on a plastic plate. However, the cake melts in your mouth and the gelato is so smooth the whole thing is just unbelievably good.

So what will I miss most about Sao Paulo? The petit gateaux. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Oh yeah...and crepes on a stick.