A fine-dining experience is shaped not only by the skill of the hands that compose each dish, but also by the people who bring that experience to life in the dining room. In São Paulo, Tuju has decided to turn traditional restaurant practices on their head by starting with those who make the service come alive every evening. The formula devised by owners Ivan Ralston and Katherina Cordás is as simple as it is revolutionary: breaking down the barriers and having the entire staff experience the full tasting menu, treating employees exactly as they would a guest sitting at the table.
By putting themselves in the guest’s shoes, Tuju’s employees are not simply executors, but become the first enthusiastic ambassadors of the restaurant’s cuisine. For Ralston and Cordás, creating a warm and stimulating environment means making every member of the team feel part of a true family: before serving a single course to guests, the entire front- and back-of-house team takes a seat at the tables to taste the chef’s creations. This approach helps ensure humane and rewarding working conditions, while allowing the team to fully understand the nuances of each dish and convey genuine, spontaneous passion to guests.
In an industry where the gap between those who work behind the scenes and those who enjoy the experience can easily grow wider, Tuju chooses empathy. Every time the menu changes, the doors close to guests and it is the team who gets to experience the gastronomic journey. Why? Because fully understanding the emotion, attention to detail and philosophy behind each dish is the only way to convey them authentically. This approach earned Tuju the prestigious Art of Hospitality Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026. But the restaurant’s real magic lies in the immersive experience it offers, as the international organisation itself explains here.
Having moved to the intimate and sophisticated Jardim Paulistano neighbourhood, the restaurant has deliberately reduced its capacity to one third of its original size, allowing the team to devote itself fully to personalised hospitality for each guest, starting with a simple but warm gesture: calling every diner by name throughout the evening.
A Three-Act Symphony of Climate, Movement and Skyline
The experience does not unfold around a single table, but takes the form of a travelling performance across the building’s three floors. Guests are guided by the staff through a carefully paced journey designed to constantly stimulate the senses and counter the fatigue that can often accompany lengthy tasting menus. The evening culminates on the stunning rooftop terrace, where the final farewell comes in the form of a refined selection of pastries and coffee, enjoyed against the backdrop of São Paulo’s lights and skyline.
The culinary inspiration, too, breaks away from traditional notions of seasonality. After studying the Brazilian metropolis’s microclimate in depth, chef Ivan Ralston discovered that it is not the months, but rainfall patterns that dictate the rhythms of the land. This gave rise to the “São Paulo seasonal cuisine”, structured around four annual gastronomic journeys named after the elements of nature: Humidity, Rain, Wind and Drought.
Completing this vision is Katherina Cordás’s relentless exploration of what defines Brazilian hospitality. The result is a spontaneous, empathetic and even gestural form of welcome, drawing inspiration from the country’s traditional dances and the fluid movements of Japanese sushi masters. The result is a seamless and harmonious service, where every waiter moves with an almost choreographed naturalness, transforming a fine-dining experience into a warm, unforgettable embrace.
