Onildo Rocha: Chapada Diamantina enters the São Paulo kitchen

A regional menu becomes more convincing when it carries more than ingredients. Onildo Rocha’s Terra Altar: Chapada Diamantina season at Notiê brought culinary research into conversation with the region’s cultural imagery.

Covered by WAYFARER Brazil in August 2024, the project followed a research journey through the Chapada Diamantina. The São Paulo restaurant, part of Mastercard’s Espaço Priceless, used the fourth season to introduce preparations including godó de banana, cortado de palma, jackfruit moqueca and abará with a gremolata of Brazilian nuts.

Wine supplied another connection. Sommeliers Daniela Bravin and Cassia Campos worked on the pairings, and UVVA, based in Mucugê, appeared in the account. The point was to consider the region through several parts of a meal rather than isolate one emblematic dish.

The room also changed. Under Gustavo Greco’s creative direction, Daniela Luz and Luísa Luz of Estúdio Veste developed an embroidered ceiling panel drawing on local foods, festivities and figures. The source mentioned green fruit, the mãe d’água and Cosme and Damião among the references. Menu and décor belong to that 2024 season, not to today’s service. As an archival study, the project shows a kitchen trying to make research visible: on the plate, in the glass and above the table.

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Adapted from the WAYFARER Brazil archive, first published 2024-08-05. English adaptation: 6 October 2026. This is an archival account, not a report of a new visit. Exhibitions, collections and menu details are described in their original context, not as current availability.