By Anna Kaiser, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Famous chefs will collaborate with residents of Complexo do Alemão for the Mesa ao Vivo (Live Table) food festival today. The festival aims to tie the best of professional cooking by famous chefs of the likes of Claude Troisgros, Flávia Quaresma and Danio Braga together with the home-cooked flavor of local cuisine.
This is the first edition of the Mesa ao Vivo in Rio de Janeiro. After ten years of successful iterations in São Paulo, participants and visitors are excited to bring the culinary revolution to the Cidade Maravilhosa.
A few delicacies that can be expected to be seen are mocotó (calf’s foot jelly) with veil and sage, baked sardines over Brazilian couscous, and yucca and caramelized apples.
The two-day festival (Friday and Saturday) will feature classes, lectures, workshops and tastings.
“We want Alemão to grow and appear on the Carioca gastronomic scene, that it turns into a Santa Teresa [neighborhood] type, that receives tourists from all over the world… Gastronomy can not be an exclusive club. And the Mesa ao Vivo Rio aims to give it a new attitude,” said one of the organizers of the event, Georges Schnyder, to O Globo.
This family-friend event that aims to unify the city through great food will be held at Complexo do Alemão in Rio’s North Zone. All are encouraged to participate and celebrate the city’s delicious flavors.
“This event is very important in stopping the segregation between Zona Sul and the hills. I believe this will crown the desire of the community to be inserted in the map of society outside of the context of violence,” said Kátia Barbosa from the renowned Aconchego Carioca bar.
Classes start today at 10AM and go on until 5PM, with registration available upon arrival. Prices are R$80 for general admission, R$40 for students and R$10 for Alemão residents. The food festival portion will be held today from noon to 8PM at Estação Adeus, Rua Pedro Avelino. Entrance is free and the festival will have more than 20 bars and restaurants participating, selling dishes for under R$10.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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