Sud – O Pássaro Verde Café
Organic Sparkling Cha Mate
House Pâté de Campagne, Toasted Bread, Salad, Pickles
Gougeres with Sharp Cheese from little Pernambucano
Fried Eggs from the Wood Oven with Brazilian Bottarga
Dulce de Leche Pancake with Fleur de Sel from the Wood Oven
Pear Clafoutis from the Wood Oven, Sweet Cream
As a former winner of Latin America’s Best Female Chef Award by S. Pellegrino Roberta Sudbrack had nothing further to prove in fine dining, so two years after closing her eponymous Restaurant it is at Sud – o Pássaro Verde Café (The Green Bird Café) that the Chef explores a more rustic style of cooking featuring wood ovens and market fresh Ingredients amidst casual environs near Rio’s Jardim Botânico.
Recently celebrating one year at Rua Visconde de Carandai 35, a nondescript white building without street side signage playing host to a Chef whose accolades continue to draw a steady crowd from 12h00 until 22h00 Tuesday through Sunday, it is upon entry that guests find themselves amidst quaint environs, the staff only fluent in Portuguese nonetheless helpful even to an American while complimentary WiFi assists with menu translation.
Focused on a more casual way of cooking, several of Chef Sudbrack’s current plates prepared in the restaurant’s wood-oven, it is only after lengthy deliberation that decisions of what *reads* best are made, Sud’s house Pâté starting things off with significant funkiness that with excite many but dissuade others, the Gougeres to follow nowhere near as polarizing thanks to dainty Choux that crackles to deliver a Soufflé of Cheese inside.
Walk-in only and without a Wine List, just twelve tables suited for thirty-two guests spread across wood and tile floors, it was next on items designated “Classico do Sud!” that focused was placed, R$34 for three Eggs cooked in Butter and Bottarga absolutely delicious, though some Bread to soak up the residual Yolk would have been nice.
Truly impressive for such an unassuming concept, Chef Sudbrack’s assertion that she believes more in “content” than “form” visible across dishes served to other diners from crocks and cast-iron, it was part gluttony and part indecision that necessitated two Desserts to finish, each large enough for two or more and the opinion of which was *best* still undecided as the Pancake bubbling with salted Caramel was a revelation thanks to crisp edges and a soft center while the Clafoutis was charred, buttery and blissful with soft Custard supporting thin slices of Fruit.
www.robertasudbrack.com.br
