Restaurant in São Paulo, Brazil
Michelin Plate. Historic building. Book early.
A 2025 Michelin Plate recipient inside Bela Vista's historic Maternidade Filomena Matarazzo building, Blaise pairs classical French technique with Brazilian ingredients under chef Fernando Bouzan. The room — volcanic stone, timber panelling, amber lighting — is one of the most distinctive in São Paulo. At $$$$, it earns its price for diners who want French rigour with local produce; those seeking modern Brazilian creativity should look elsewhere.
A Google rating of 4.2 across 82 reviews is modest for a Michelin Plate recipient, which tells you something useful: Blaise rewards guests who come in with the right expectations. This is not a high-volume crowd-pleaser. It is a deliberate, architecturally striking room serving French technique with Brazilian ingredients, and the gap between those who love it and those who feel it is overpriced maps closely to whether you understood what you were booking. At $$$$, this is a considered spend. Come knowing that, and the meal is hard to fault on its own terms.
Bela Vista is one of São Paulo's oldest and most culturally layered neighbourhoods, and Blaise has planted itself inside the historic Maternidade Filomena Matarazzo building on R. Itapeva, 435. That building is not set dressing — it anchors the restaurant's identity. The interior reads like a wood cabin re-imagined through a São Paulo lens: rough timber panelling, Brazilian volcanic stone crystals threaded between the woodwork, rustic decor, and lampshades that keep the lighting low and amber. The room is a specific sensory proposition, not a generic fine-dining box, and for the explorer-type diner who wants a setting with actual history behind it, it delivers something that newer Jardins or Itaim Bibi openings simply cannot replicate.
The inspiration behind the space is Franco-Swiss writer Blaise Cendrars, who spent formative time in Brazil and developed deep ties to São Paulo's modernist circle. The restaurant's visual vocabulary , that cabin-like interior, the rough natural materials , references the kind of stripped-back environment he is said to have inhabited. This is context worth having before you arrive, not because the meal requires literary knowledge, but because it explains why the room feels intentional rather than decorative.
Chef Fernando Bouzan runs a kitchen that applies classical French technique to Brazilian produce. The result sits closer to refined French cooking with Brazilian accents than to the ingredient-forward modern Brazilian style you find at D.O.M. or Maní. If you are deciding between those styles, that distinction matters. Bouzan's cooking does not attempt to reimagine Brazilian cuisine , it applies French culinary logic to local ingredients, which is a narrower and more classical ambition, and one that the Michelin Plate recognition in 2025 suggests he executes with consistency.
Dishes flagged by Michelin inspectors include a braised beef tongue served with potato salad and a red wine sauce, and a jabuticaba sorbet built with jam, jelly, and jabuticaba pearls in a crème diplomate. The beef tongue is the kind of technically demanding preparation that separates a trained kitchen from an ambitious one , braising tongue to genuinely tender texture without losing structure requires time and precision. The jabuticaba dessert is worth noting as a specifically Brazilian ingredient given elegant French pastry treatment: jabuticaba is a native Brazilian grape-like fruit with an earthy, slightly tannic flavour that holds up well against dairy-based creams.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. With no published phone number or website in current circulation, the most reliable approach is to contact the restaurant directly through the address or through reservation platforms active in São Paulo. Do not plan to walk in. Reservations: book as far in advance as possible; last-minute availability is unlikely. Budget: $$$$ , plan for a full multi-course spend; this is not a venue where ordering light makes financial sense. Dress: the room's rustic warmth suggests smart-casual will be comfortable, though the price point and Michelin recognition imply you should lean toward the smarter end of that range. Address: R. Itapeva, 435 - Bela Vista, São Paulo - SP, 01332-000. Hours: not confirmed in current data , verify before travelling.
For broader planning, see our full São Paulo restaurants guide, São Paulo hotels guide, and São Paulo bars guide. If you are planning a wider Brazil itinerary, comparable French-influenced contemporary cooking appears at Lasai in Rio de Janeiro and, for a different register entirely, Manu in Curitiba. For international reference points in the French Contemporary category, Odette in Singapore and Amber in Hong Kong show where the ceiling sits for this cuisine type globally.
Book Blaise if you want a Michelin-recognised French-Brazilian table inside a genuinely historic São Paulo building, and if classical French technique applied to local ingredients is what you are looking for. Do not book it expecting the modern Brazilian ingredient-foraging narrative you get at D.O.M. or the easier, more accessible energy of Maní. The $$$$ price point is justified by the Michelin recognition and the cooking standard, but only if this specific combination of room, tradition, and technique is what you are after. For the food and travel enthusiast who wants depth of context alongside a serious meal, Blaise is one of the more layered options currently operating in Bela Vista.
For a Michelin Plate restaurant in São Paulo at $$$$, Blaise is priced in line with its peers , D.O.M. and Evvai sit at the same tier. The value case rests on the combination of the historic building, Bouzan's technically precise French-Brazilian cooking, and the 2025 Michelin recognition. If you are comparing purely on modern Brazilian creativity, D.O.M. makes a stronger argument at the same price. If the French-classical approach and the distinctive room are what you want, the spend is reasonable.
Current menu format is not confirmed in available data , contact the restaurant directly to confirm whether a tasting menu is offered. Based on the Michelin Plate recognition and the style of cooking, a structured multi-course format would be the most natural way to experience Bouzan's range. If a tasting menu is available, it is the format this kitchen is built for. A la carte at this price point delivers less overall value unless you are targeting specific dishes like the beef tongue.
Michelin's own inspectors single out two dishes: the braised beef tongue with potato salad and red wine sauce, and the jabuticaba sorbet with crème diplomate. Start with the tongue , it is the clearest demonstration of Bouzan's classical French technique applied to a cut that most kitchens avoid. End with the jabuticaba dessert, which uses a specifically Brazilian ingredient in a way that makes the French-Brazilian premise of the restaurant concrete rather than theoretical.
Seat count is not confirmed in available data. Given the room's cabin-like, intimate character, large group bookings may be constrained. Contact the restaurant directly well in advance if you are planning for more than four. At $$$$, group dinners here represent a significant per-head commitment , for a slightly more flexible group spend in São Paulo, Maní at $$$ is worth considering instead.
No dietary restriction policy is confirmed in available data. The French-Brazilian menu involves classical preparations including meat and dairy , guests with specific restrictions should contact the restaurant directly before booking. Given the price point and booking difficulty, confirming this before you arrive is essential rather than optional.
Explore more of what São Paulo offers: São Paulo experiences guide | São Paulo wineries guide. For other strong Michelin-recognised tables around Brazil, see Manga in Salvador, Mina in Campos do Jordão, and Orixás North Restaurant in Itacaré. For other São Paulo contemporaries, Tuju and Fame Osteria are worth comparing, and Evvai sits at the same $$$$ tier if Contemporary Italian is more aligned with what you are looking for. For a complete contrast in price and format, Castelo Saint Andrews in Gramado offers a very different Brazilian fine-dining register.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaise | French Contemporary | Michelin Plate (2025); Occupying the historic Maternidade Filomena Matarazzo building, this restaurant takes its inspiration from the Franco-Swiss writer Braise Cendrars. The interior is similar to a wood cabin (similar to where he is said to have lived) and includes Brazilian volcanic stone crystals between the woodwork, rustic decor and subtle lighting provided by the lampshades that illuminate the room. Here, chef Fernando Bouzan, conjures up French cuisine with a Brazilian touch. Our suggestions include the succulent and incredibly tender braised beef tongue, served with potato salad and a refined red wine sauce. The jabuticaba sorbet with jam, jelly and jabuticaba pearls in a delicate “crème diplomate” is an absolute must! | Hard | — |
| D.O.M. | Modern Brazilian, Creative | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Evvai | Contemporary Italian, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Maní | Brazilian - International, Creative | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Jun Sakamoto | Sushi, Japanese | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| A Casa do Porco | Regional Brazilian, Brazilian | World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in São Paulo for this tier.
check the venue's official channels before booking — with no published website or phone number in current circulation, reaching out via reservation platform or email is your best route. Chef Fernando Bouzan's kitchen works with classical French technique applied to Brazilian produce, so the menu leans protein-forward and cream-rich. If you have significant dietary restrictions, confirm in advance rather than assuming flexibility on the night.
The braised beef tongue — served with potato salad and a red wine sauce — is the dish most cited in Michelin recognition notes for this kitchen. Follow it with the jabuticaba sorbet: the combination of jam, jelly, jabuticaba pearls, and crème diplomate is where the Brazilian produce identity of the menu lands most clearly. Both are worth ordering if the kitchen is running its standard format.
Blaise occupies a historic building in Bela Vista, but the wood-cabin interior and rustic layout suggest an intimate room rather than a large-group space. Parties of two to four are the natural fit here. If you're planning a group of six or more, contact the restaurant well ahead — booking is already rated Hard, and group configurations may need specific arrangements.
At $$$$, Blaise sits at the top of the São Paulo price range, and the Michelin Plate (2025) signals technical competence without the full-star designation. If classical French cooking with Brazilian produce is your format, the price point is justified — the braised beef tongue and jabuticaba sorbet alone give you a clear read on what Bouzan is doing. If you want more aggressive Brazilian identity on the plate, Maní or A Casa do Porco will feel more purposeful at a similar or lower spend.
Yes, for a specific kind of diner: someone who wants Michelin-recognised French technique in a genuinely historic São Paulo setting, rather than a maximalist tasting menu or a buzzy room. At $$$$, it sits alongside D.O.M. and Evvai in price, but offers a quieter, more architectural experience. If you're after the full theatrical São Paulo fine-dining moment, D.O.M. or Jun Sakamoto will hit harder. Blaise earns its price for guests who come in knowing what it is.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
