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Authentic Italian cuisine in São Paulo: chef Pier Paolo Picchi stuns Brazil with caponata and agnolotti

by:
Andrea Febo
|
copertina Picchi 1

Pier Paolo Picchi, born in Brazil to Italian parents, has distinguished himself by reinterpreting the traditions of the Bel Paese with a contemporary vision and the use of local ingredients. His restaurant in São Paulo, one Michelin star, has become a gastronomic destination not to be missed.

Cover photo credits: Gilberto Bronko and Crudo/Raphael Criscuolo and Crudo


The story of Pier Paolo Picchi and his restaurant: Italian roots and international vision

Today São Paulo is considered one of the gastronomic capitals of the world, with a culinary scene that mixes local and international traditions. Italian cuisine, in particular, has become a mainstay thanks to the descendants of those immigrants who have managed to keep family traditions alive, adapting them to the Brazilian context. Dishes such as lasagna, risotto, and meatloaf have become part of the daily diet of Paulistanians, while events such as "Italian Regional Cooking Week ” (we told you about it here) promote the authenticity of recipes from the different regions of Italy.

Salao 02 PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

In this landscape, the Picchi restaurant stands out for its ability to reinterpret Italian traditions through a contemporary lens, mixing local ingredients with international techniques. At the center of this endeavor is chef Pier Paolo Picchi, a figure who perfectly embodies the solid cultural link between Italy and Brazil.

Salao 05 PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

Pier Paolo Picchi was born in São Paulo to a family of Italian descent and grew up in an environment where food represented a family glue, an expression of love and tradition that came from the figure of his paternal grandmother. Thus, as in the best contemporary cooking stories, Pier Paolo's has a grandmother who plays the key role of inspirational muse. It was she who passed on to him the secrets of Italian home cooking, a baggage that would become the basis of his career.

Salao 03 PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

After completing his early studies in Brazil, Picchi decided to deepen his skills in Europe, working for nine years in prestigious kitchens including those of Casa Vissani and Mugaritz, where he had the opportunity to confront a revolutionary vision of avant-garde gastronomy. This period is crucial for his personal and professional growth and allows him to develop a great sensitivity in combining technique and flavor. Back in São Paulo, Pier Paolo in 2014 opened the doors of the restaurant that bears his family name in the Jardins neighborhood, the most exclusive and elegant in the city, carving out its spaces in a modern setting.

Salao 04 PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

The restaurant Picchi, one Michelin star since 2017, is a large unique room of elegant hospitality, enveloping in its warm materials and well lit in the elements that build an atmosphere where everything has the ability to be a modern vision of the classic. Essential mise en place and well-spaced tables, noise and background voices almost absent despite the fact that the entire room is full.

The cuisine

The menu is a journey between Italy and Brazil with three tasting course options of six, eight and twelve courses that change very quickly. Pier Paolo's greatest passion, perhaps even before cooking, is grocery shopping, touching fresh elements and imagining how they can be combined while respecting seasonality.

Ostra PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

To range in a course capable of representing the chef's gastronomic identity, I choose an eight-race and immediately after the amuse bouche comes an oyster from Santa Caterina (a coast south of Brazil known for the quality of its oysters and shellfish), served with a shiso sorbet. Fresh, clean, surprising between the savory notes and the nuances between balsamic and citrus.

Sobremesa PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

The Tortello di zucca and gorgonzola served with butter and amaretti has a tasty and enveloping bite, the amaretti close entertaining and remain persistent thanks to a good use of the fat component. Textures and temperatures return to amuse in the Caponata, a truly intense dish where the bell pepper sorbet meets a warm eggplant cream and where the acidity of the raw vegetables, celery and zucchini, join the freshness of the mint gel. A great dish that precedes an elegant Artichoke, very well cooked, served on a bagna cauda sauce.

Falsa azeitona PS
@Erika Mayumi and Crudo

The Agnolotti stuffed with coniglio alla cacciatora turn out to be slightly ahead of the game, and the white meat finds good overall expression by meeting the olives in the sauce, which has an interesting final spicy note. Good pasta workmanship, but underwhelming in expectations of flavor intensity.

Panna Cota PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

The lacquered Duck served barbecued, with its broth, in foie gras and as brisket ham is remarkable. Perfectly cooked meat, fat part balanced and flavorful in a spicy seasoning with no salt. Excellent eaten in sequence. Finally, before desserts, the dish worth the trip is a Spaghetto alle vongole con ricci di mare e guanciale. A first course that alternates with the others in a cadenced manner, but masterfully closes the savory journey with a mantecatura that envelops an aromatic intensity really well balanced in every component. Pure gluttony with great technique in the harmony of ingredients.

Petit Four PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

The desserts are another great surprise. At Picchi's the desserts have a strong identity dedicated to the gastronomic and are yet another elegant reminder of Italian cuisine, which is an inescapable incentive to taste at least two of them. The first is a return to the gustatory memory of the aperitif and is a Peanut Semifreddo garnished with a pasta sheet of dehydrated guanciale and a Campari sauce, interesting and well-dosed, but the real star is the Polenta Flan that arrives along with a gorgonzola ice cream, custard and a crispy sheet of sweet polenta. Centered, clean, complex in taste layering and satisfying in overall flavor, fun on the palate and mouthwatering. Truly a great dessert.

Texturas de banana PS
@Erika Mayumi and Crudo
Tiramisu PS
@Gilberto Bronko and Crudo

Pier Paolo Picchi and his restaurant represent much more than a simple gastronomic excellence linking Italy to Brazil, it is a cultural table made of creative sensitivity and complex flavors in their satisfying fullness. A restaurant that in the overall experience gives pleasantness and curiosity, enthralling you with the universe of a chef as reserved as he is technically good. Among Pier Paolo's dreams is to return to Italy to cook, who knows?

Contact

Picchi

Address:

Oscar Freire Street 533, São Paulo, 01426-001, Brazil

Phone: 0055 11 3065.5560

Whatsapp: 0055 11 99448.9575

Website.

E-mail: contato@restaurantepicchi.com.br

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