Her divorce from Jefferson Rueda shook Brazilian gastronomy. She now runs A Casa do Porco, the seventh-largest restaurant in the world, on her own. Janaina Rueda speaks candidly about gender differences.
Opinion
The separation between Janaina Torres and Jefferson Rueda, after a 20-year marriage, has shaken up the São Paulo gastronomic scene. We're talking about the couple behind A Casa do Porco Bar, a restaurant ranked seventh in the 50 Best, now united only at work.
"We decided to get married here forever, that our love would be in business. That way, it would not end," she tells Claudia in an interview. She spares no details about his betrayal, the drama she experienced, the nights of crying, and the rebirth, thanks to work on herself, renewed professional commitment, and the rediscovery of herself. 
Casa do Porco is transforming. "Now the menu is very feminine; it's my time. I worked alone on its creation and called only women into the kitchen to execute it. With men's kitchens on the rise, this world has focused on celebrities and has become self-centered and visceral. But when you start conveying female energies, the human component develops. With us here, there is no screaming. We are labeled as crazy, but on closer inspection, the hysteria comes from men's kitchens. Personally, I have traveled the world. The kitchens I like best are women's kitchens, not because I am a woman. It is nature that asks women to step into aggressive environments that are ready for change."
Sometimes it is the women themselves who take a step back. Janaina recounts having long delegated while doing a million things, and voluntarily hiding behind the charismatic figure of Jefferson, initially more experienced than her, who had trained on the street, selling snacks and cooking street food as a teenager. "Because he's a man, he was the chef, and I wasn’t I was a helper." The need to measure herself against haute cuisine, stepping outside the popularity of comfort food, prompted her to leave Dona Onça Bar, her restaurant, just as Jefferson was suffering from a breakdown, taking the challenge herself. "I always left him in front and me behind him-I don't know how right or wrong it was. You can give proper credit, but you should never hide. When I realized that, the house blossomed."
Today Janaina has 14 international trips on her agenda, during which she will go to conquer men's kitchens. But her activism has many forms, including engagement. "For me, it is unacceptable that schools are not educating about food. I found myself having to draw a chicken to indicate where the gizzard was so that the teacher would stop telling the kids not to eat it. Without food, we don't change Brazil or the world. People are eating badly, and that is killing the planet. Only we can transform our energy. I, Janaina Torres Rueda, know where I come from and where I want to go."
Source: claudia.abril.com.br
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Photo: Crediti A Casa Do Porco
