D.O.M. – Sao Paulo (**) November 2024

by illico

3 Comments

  1. Apologies for the separate text from the main pictures, and for the shoddy camera work.

    We were visiting Sao Paulo last weekend for the Formula 1 race and had the opportunity to have lunch at D.O.M.  Lunch options included an executive lunch of three or four plates or a tasting menu of 12 “steps”.  We elected for the tasting menu with a caviar supplement but no wine.

    Service was professional and friendly if perhaps a little robotic. A good number of the wait staff spoke English well enough to accommodate tourists like us. 

    Overall, I enjoyed the experience although the meal was perhaps underwhelming. There was a lot of cassava, manioc and tapioca sprinkled throughout the meal, which is perfectly fair given we were in Brazil, but it is not my favorite set of ingredients.  I very much enjoyed being able to sample ingredients native to Brazil that we wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere. Some dishes were really good while other were rather muted in flavor.  An interesting and good meal, but not outstanding. Very glad to have experienced it, regardless.

    With regards to the famous ant.  I was most looking forward to it and when it did not show up as the appetizer I have seen so often I was disappointed.  In the end my fears were allayed as it came with dessert instead, painted in silver.  I was completely blown away by the intensity of the flavor of the ant.  I could not believe the strong citrus/lemongrass notes coming from it. 

    And this is where I feel there is a lost opportunity. I get the novelty and shock factor of eating an insect for a lot of people, but I think they could also showcase the ant more, perhaps as part of a sauce or something more substantial, I don’t know. In our meal it was an ant on top of little manioc cake and they asked us to try the ant separately. I feel like they could have served us the ant as they did and then offered a follow-up course using the ant in a prepared dish. With the flavor that comes out of it I am sure they could think of something.  Perhaps the ants are very expensive to acquire…?

     

    List of courses:

    Aluà. Made of fermented pineapple & ginger. Strong fermented flavor.  Interesting at first, but I did not appreciate it as much the longer I tried it.

    Cashew candy. Made of cajuina (cashew juice made from the cashew fruit). A thin hard-shell candy with liquid cajuina inside. An intense burst of flavor when the candy shell breaks and the juice is released.

    4 appetizers: Sweet Potato & Curd cheese, Fish with cornmeal, “Fumeiro” meat with cassava, Chicken w/ farofa.  The sweet potato was interesting but with a slightly dry and mealy texture. The fish with cornmeal was a delicious small bite as was the “fumeiro” meat on top of a piece of cassava bread.  The chicken was glazed in tamarind and set on some really delicious farofa. Easily the best bites of the meal minus the sweet potato.

    Cured meat and pumpkin. Some of cured meat was made into a farce with the pumpkin and wrapped into a tapioca tortellini.  There was pumpkin sauce and shredded cured meat on top.

    Egg and rice. Their version of a comfort dish topped with crispy onion.  Egg white and egg yolk were cooked separately. On top of some Brazilian red rice.

    Beiju with Andu beans and mocotó. Tapioca bread served with a bean stew. Delicious.

    Pirarubu – fish in banana leaf. Hake fish cooked in banana leaf with tapioca flour and cassava dressed with olive oil and herbs.  The banana leaf imparted some real smoky flavor in the tapioca and cassava but the fish was a little under-seasoned for my taste though perfectly tender. A side salad of leafy greens of Brazil.

    Arribação quail. Perfectly cooked and seasoned quail with corn meal porridge in a blood(?) sauce. Strong savory dish.

    Caviar, potato and goat. Iranian caviar on top of confit potato in a goat broth. The goat broth was a real highlight.

    Kale with lard.  Kale layered with bacon lardons.  Mild and delicate flavors.

    Corda beans, melon and gherkins. Bean purée & melon sorbet topped with pickles.  Palate cleanser that was surprisingly refreshing.

    Bacuri and green coconut. Cooked green coconut with bacuri snow, a sweet and sour fruit native to Brazil. Very tart. The coconut was delicious and I hate coconut.

    Grandma’s pudding and cajá. Tapioca pudding with cajá sauce.  The cajá sauce was delicious. Very reminiscent of passion fruit.

    Guava Biscuit, Souza Leão cake with Amazon ant, wedding cake with umbu cream.  The Ant!

  2. dundundundun12345

    I love it there so much been 3 times. I’m Brazilian so it feels like comfort food for a lot of it. It’s interesting that I went to Benu recently that’s Korean influence and I felt like I didn’t appreciate it enough because I’m just not used to Korean food, like not being fully fluent in a language and reading poems

  3. Club96shhh

    I feel like there is some shark jumping here with the “plating your snacks on unconventional surfaces”. At some point just use the plate, pedestal or possibly a wooden box. No need for cobs, wicker baskets, pebbles and the like. One of my biggest fine dining pet peeves.

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