Text by Lise Alves
With its skyscrapers and sprawling business districts, São Paulo City is often hailed as South America’s financial powerhouse. But within this Brazilian city’s more buttoned up, corporate exterior lies a heartbeat of creativity–the neighborhood of Vila Madalena–located in the Pinheiros district in the western part of the city.
Once a quiet, upper class suburb, this neighborhood is now a buzzy center for the city’s vibrant culture, with plentiful restaurants, trendy shopping, a thriving art scene, and lively nightlife.
“Vila Madá” as it is commonly referred to by Paulistas and tourists alike, has a culinary landscape that is perpetually evolving.
Newly opened Clandestina, for example, highlights the vision of renowned Brazilian chef Bel Coelho. It focuses on valuing Brazilian food culture and native ingredients. The menu includes dishes such as duck gyoza with tucupi and jambu sauce; quark cheese tortellini with mushrooms and toasted onion sauce; and snapper with vatapá sauce with fennel salad.
Michelin-starred restaurant Corrutela also keeps the focus on the regional cuisine, working with local farmers, and sustainably sourced fish and meat. It even produces its flour in its own mill.
For a café meal, Komah Bakery blends traditional Korean flavors, in a contemporary way, with a wide variety of pastries, sandwiches, coffees, and breads.
At her namesake bakery, renowned pastry chef Marilia Zylbersztajn serves mouthwatering pies and cakes.
Vila Madalena has earned a well-deserved reputation for the best nightlife in the São Paulo. On Rua Apiscuelta (“rua” means road or street in Portuguese), you’ll find dozens of bars to suit any taste. By dusk, the bars start filling up, with people spilling out onto the streets, drink in hand, for a festive atmosphere.
If you prefer something quieter, check out Madeleine Jazz Bar, a little further down the street. The bar offers a cozy, sophisticated vibe, with an incredible selection of wines from a cellar full of exclusive labels. It is also one of the best places in the neighborhood for excellent live music.
On the northern end of the neighborhood The Astor and SubAstor are the places to go. One of the best traditional bars in São Paulo, the Astor became so famous that it has expanded with two additional venues in different parts of the city. But don’t remain on the ground level at The Astor; the real treasure here lies one level down at The SubAstor. It looks like a 1950’s speakeasy and has one of the best Bloody Marys in the city. To find it, go down the staircase hidden behind velvet curtains at the end of the Astor.
On the outskirts of Vila Madalena, across the Faria Lima Boulevard, you will find a bar that was voted as one of the World’s 50 Best Bars for three consecutive years: Guilhotina Bar. A favorite among São Paulo’s serious cocktail aficionados, Guilhotina encourages interaction between customers and bartenders, who are always ready to make excellent suggestions.
But Vila Madalena is not just about culinary adventures, and culture in this vibrant neighborhood thrives. Though it came to fame with its famous graffiti, the neighborhood has some of the best art galleries in the city.
Galeria Millan has been active since 1986, and often features exhibitions by leading Brazilian artists, including Alex Červený, Bob Wolfenson, and Tunga. The gallery has two exhibition spaces, both on Rua Fradique Coutinho.
With striking spaces designed by architects Lina Bo Bardi, Ruy Ohtake and Felippe Crescenti, the Raquel Arnaud gallery is considered a forerunner in the contemporary art world. It represents nationally and internationally recognized artists such as Waltercio Caldas, Carlos Cruz-Díez, Arthur Luiz Piza, Maria Carmen Perlingeiro, and Carlos Zilio.
Vila Madalena is also home to talented fashion designers and entrepreneurs, many of whom focus on sustainable methods of production.
For example, Baims features cosmetics and skincare that is vegan, cruelty free, and in beautiful packaging made from bamboo, glass, or aluminum. Another sustainable style leader, Osklen, was started by Brazilian designer Oskar Metsavaht. The line uses organic cotton and silk, hemp fiber, and Amazonian jute. It also turns the tough, leatherlike skins from the Amazonian fish pirarucu into luxury handbags and other accessories. The fish is a food staple in Northern Brazil and the skins were previously being discarded.
UMA and Flavia Aranha both use organic cotton and other natural fibers, harvested by family farmers and naturally dyed with Brazilian plants and herbs, to make their clothing.
Also, don’t miss Luiza Perea, a boutique located in the heart of the neighborhood. The designer’s shoes are all made by hand from soft goatskin leather, resulting in beautiful shoes that are also extremely comfortable.
So, even if you are in São Paulo for business, be sure to take time off to visit and experience all the effervescence that is Vila Madalena.
