I
n São Paulo, a city with more than 100,000 restaurants representing at least 50 different cuisines, standing out is no small feat. This is a dining scene that does everything at full volume. Yet Lucas Dante and Gabrielli Fleming have managed to turn Cepa into one of the city’s most beloved restaurants—the constant line outside the door is proof—by doing the basics exceptionally well.
At Cepa, the approach is deceptively straightforward: unfussy food, an airy dining room in their new home in Pinheiros (after years in the eastern district of Tatuapé), and one of the most thoughtful wine programs in town. Everything feels carefully calibrated yet effortlessly cool. “It’s surprising how much sense everything makes in the project they’ve created,” says Peruvian chef Pía León, who recommended Cepa to this Food Chain.
