FofoChef - love at first bite

Actually, it was love at first sight, when I saw the pictures on Instagram. <3

St. Marie Gastronomie is far far far away from São Paulo's city center (okay, maybe not that far.. 38 min from Paulista Avenue, says Waze) and is always crowded, but the trip and the waiting is completely worth it.

First because of the adorable positive happiest owner Stephan Kawijian. He is always smiling and receptioning his clients with a humility and simplicity that is hard to find. Always thanking them: "Mercizão!"(Merci from French thanks and -ão is a Portuguese language augmentative).

He will personally hand you over some courtesy Coalhada (yogurt, curd?.. I couldn't find a proper translation in English) with Arab bread for the long waiting...

The place is not fancy, but rather very simple and modest.

Oh but the food...

Everything here is amazing!!!! And beautiful. Perfection. Prepare to have many foodgasms and to leave on your knees, stuffed but wanting to eat more.

For starters, I went for a meat esfiha* which was the only meh thing that I had in there, aaaand an amazing onion esfiha. They have like many other different flavors and it is kind of my mission to go back and try them all, and also everything else on their menu. Which uses a super cute language - you can almost hear Chef Kawijian saying them: "O que com muita fofura fazemos pra vocês"- which could be freely translated as "what we make for you with extra fluffness/cuteness" or the heavy use of the verb "afofar" (to fluff, to soften) throughout the menu.

What I wanted the most in my life was to try their magnificent Kibe Cru Montado (Lebanese raw meat in layers):

Another picture, just to make you wanna cry like I do:

Please, look!! It has Coalhada (the kinda yogurt thing), raw meat, cooked meat, fried onions, green stuffies to make it pretty... It looks small but it fills you up like hell! This is the big one, they have two sizes. I am almost crying here.

Then we ordered also this beautiful creature. [Polvo à Galega]

Personally I like it softer, but it was awesome anyhows. Did I mention how gorgeous it is? I love to eat with my eyes. It is a piece of art. Surrender.

We were bursting already, but we had to order dessert: The "Fofomousse".

Fofo means fluffy in Portuguese. And it is really like eating a cloud. There is a passionfruit sauce if you want to pour over and make it less sweet, if you wish. For me it is perfect just the way it is..

Call me if you are going there, I'll tag along! No, but seriously, you gotta go.

They open Monday-Saturday from 8: 30h to 19h, but the kitchen works only from 11: 45h to 17: 30h, outside these hours you can sit and get the premade goodies that are also available to take: esfihas, sausages, curd (coalhada), chocolate mousse. Sundays are closed, unfortunately.

On Saturdays it gets packed, arrive earlier if you don't want to wait 1h30 at least.

Address: Rua Dom João Batista Costa, 70 - Jardim Taboão, São Paulo

*The esfiha was brought to Brazil from the Middle East by the large immigrant communities from Lebanon and Syria, most of whom settled in São Paulo. From there it spread throughout the entire country. An esfiha is a member of the "flatbread-pizza" family, found round the world. It is basically a round of leavened bread spread with any number of ingredients and served either open (like a pizza) or closed (like a calzone). The spicing and ingredients bear evidence of the esfiha's Middle Eastern origins, with ground meats, cumin, onions, a touch of cinnamon being common ingredients to fill an esfiha.