Ask the Concierge – São Paulo World Trade Center Hotel

Can you recommend a traditional restaurant to impress my clients in Sao Paulo?

“When foreigners come to Brazil there is pretty much one type of restaurant they all want to go to and that’s our ‘churrasco’ (Brazilian barbecue). I’d recommend Figueira Rubaiyat restaurant or Bolinha restaurant. Figueira is where you go for the traditional, but upscale picanha (salted rump steak cuts), but if you really want Brazilian food, then Bolinha’s feijoada (a heavy black bean and meat soup) is great. The ambiance is old, traditional, with wooden chairs. And you have a choice: the regular feijoada, or the light version. That one won’t come with pig ears and stuff like that.

Can you recommend an upscale, modern restaurant?

Brasil a Gosto has got Brazilian cuisine from various states in the country and serves a really colorful, tropical caipirinha (sugarcane alcohol beverage). The layout of the restaurant is impressive, too. There’s this big glass wall in front of a large screen TV where [restaurant owner Ana Luisa Trajano] plays a film loop of her travels throughout Brazil. You’ll spend at least US$40 per plate without drinks, but it’s worth it.

If I can take a day off, where should I go?

Go to Embu das Artes, which is a great place for antiques, small mom and pop shops and country-style restaurants. It’s a great escape from the hustle of São Paulo and a place to pick up unique, Brazilian gifts. If you want to go to the beach, try Santos or Guaruja, which is a bit more active than Santos. Both are about and hour and a half from the hotel.

What has been your most unusual request?

A guest wanted me to find him a tooth. He broke his tooth just before a lecture and begged me to find a dentist to fix it. I called everywhere and everyone in the hotel business and finally found a mobile dentist office. Fifteen minutes later, he came to the hotel and fixed the guest’s tooth for 50 reais (about US$25). The guest was so happy, he paid the dentist a thousand!

Aline Passucci has been concierge at the Sheraton WTC since August. Prior to that she worked for the Hilton Morumbi as a concierge for two years and the WTC Hotel for three years before the Sheraton acquired it this year.