2026 Discovering the Culinary Soul of Old Rio

Brazil and its cuisine are a wild and sometimes baffling stew of influences and cultures – and Rio’s old city and port zone are where many of the country’s disparate elements deliciously converge. These atmospheric neighborhoods are where the Portuguese began building the city, where the enslaved Africans who were brought over to Brazil first landed, where samba was born and – most importantly – where this bustling metropolis’s multicultural identity and food culture started taking shape. On this tour we trace that history through its food, meeting the people who are keeping Brazil’s culinary traditions alive and those who are creating exciting new ones.

Itinerary

1. At this square, it lies one of the four oldest hills in the city, where the Franciscan Order built the Saint Anthony Monastery, who arrived in today’s Brazil in 1500 in the Portuguese caravels. (30 min)
2. Busy and historic avenue. (30 min)
3. The largest archive of Portuguese literature outside of Portugal and consistently ranked among the most beautiful libraries in the world. (30 min)
4. It is a place of cultural blend and many restaurants from the Arab diaspora. (30 min)
5. The president for whom the avenue is named, Getulio Vargas, was the longest-serving president in Brazil's history. (30 min)
6. The place tells the story of how the cultural hub of Little Africa cultural hub. (30 min)
7. Historic landmark. (30 min)

Meeting & end point