Lena, a restaurant in São Paulo’s Pinheiros neighborhood, will bring contemporary takes on Minas Gerais cuisine to the first Folha Gourmet Festival. The event is scheduled for November 7, 8, 14 and 15 at Villa-Lobos Park, with 20 bars and restaurants taking part.
Among Lena’s festival dishes is galinhada served with rice, crispy chicken thigh and a yolk cured in soy sauce and cachaça. The restaurant will also offer grilled suckling pig with savory green-corn curau, as well as crudo made with carne serenada and cassava chips.
Pão de queijo will feature in two forms: a popcorn-style snack made with Tulha cheese, served with sour cream and smoked guava paste, and a sandwich filled with pastrami, gribiche sauce, jiló pickles and dill. Chef Mário Santiago, who opened Lena just over a year ago, previously co-founded A Pão de Queijaria in Belo Horizonte in 2014, where pão de queijo was served with cheeses including Canastra and Alagoa Parmesan and fillings such as pork and pastrami.
The festival’s food lineup also includes Dalva e Dito, Aizomê, Aiô, LosDos, Saiko, Quincho and Ici Bistrô. Dishes at the event will cost between R$30 and R$50. Tickets start at R$50 for a full-price admission and are available through Sympla; a promotion offers two tickets for the price of one, along with three months of free Folha subscription.
The program includes music selected by Blue Note, with performances by André Frateschi, Paula Lima, Wilson Simoninha and Tony Gordon. The festival will also feature food-related discussions, wine and beer areas, a children’s space and picnic areas.
Folha Gourmet Festival takes place at Parque Villa-Lobos, Avenida Professor Fonseca Rodrigues, 2,001, in Alto de Pinheiros. It runs from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
Sources: Folha Ilustrada.