Levena: Diego Lozano’s pastry counter opens the day

At Levena, pastry was not confined to the last course. Diego Lozano’s Pinheiros project placed it near the beginning of the room and allowed the rest of the day to develop around it.

WAYFARER’s October 2023 account described a long display counter filled with the chef’s creations. A grumixama-shaped light at the entrance referred to a fruit native to the Atlantic Forest, giving the setting a Brazilian point of departure.

Several uses under one roof

The project combined a bakery, pastry shop, restaurant and culinary school. Breakfast, lunch, coffee and dinner could occupy the same place at different times, making it more than a destination for a single elaborate dessert.

The archive described vegan preparations within the pastry selection, although the percentage quoted then is not treated as a current inventory.

The teacher behind the counter

Lozano’s route included technical training at SENAI, work with chocolate maker Harald and participation in the Brazilian selection for the World Chocolate Masters. He later worked at D.O.M. before opening his own pastry school in 2012.

The report’s sweeping claims about international reach and rankings are not needed to explain the project. The school and the counter make the relationship more tangible: the techniques used to produce a dessert can also become the subject of a lesson. Levena joined those two forms of work inside a neighbourhood restaurant.

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Adapted from the WAYFARER Brazil archive, first published 2023-10-19. 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.