The São Paulo based restaurant D.O.M. (www.domrestaurante.com.br) this year was awarded a very good 24th place on the San Pellegrino list of the Worlds Best Restaurants 2009, which means a leap upwards of no less than 16 places.
In the swanky Jardins district of São Paulo, celebrity chef Alex Atala heads up D.O.M. serving sophisticated nouvelle Brazilian cuisine that captures the soul of his country. Atala, once a DJ in São Paulo, has become one of Brazil's biggest culinary stars by incorporating everyday and obscure ingredients from the heart of the bountiful Amazonian region.
Truffles and foie gras play supporting roles in D.O.M. to cambucá fruit and tucupi (a juice that is extracted from the cassava root and which finds its origins in Indian cuisine). Atala fuses his classical French training with native ingredients with amazing results.
Atala has hosted his own TV program and ranks as a celebrity in his own right, but hes not above personally greeting guests after a meal at his restaurant.
Another famous São Paulo restaurant, Fasano, came 83rd place.
