Not your average bar food

A month-long bar food festival in Belo Horizonte means ambitious snacks and cold beer.

By Seth Kugel - GlobalPost
Published: May 15, 2009 05:54 ET
Updated: May 15, 2009 11:56 ET
Page 2 of 2

The taioba leaf hidden inside the cornmeal balls at Agosto’s served as a partial justification for Deborah Souza, a nutritionist, to give her professional stamp of approval to Agosto’s deep-fried, red-meated entry. “It’s very balanced,” she said. “I recommend it. Not a whole order for yourself, but shared among friends.”

Winners are determined by both a popular vote process and a panel of judges who rate bars not just on food but also on hygiene, service and coldness of beer. The latter category perhaps explains why each bar also features works of art ... in the bathroom.

Comida di Buteco has helped transform the bar scene in Belo Horizonte. Geraldo Fonseca, a 32-year-old physician who was out at Agosto’s on Saturday as well, remembered that in the 1990s, his crowd avoided botecos and would instead haunt the same two or three nightclubs where all young people from wealthier families hung out. “Botecos were for old people and poor people,” he said.

They continue to be, of course, but are now also for young people and rich people. In another break from tradition, two-thirds of the half-million or so visitors during the festival are women. (Maya attributes this to a purposeful revolution in bathroom cleanliness since the contest began.)

The only casualty during the festival are the habitues who see their favorite bar invaded by strangers from across the city and country. “The regulars disappeared,” said Lucas Brandao Arouca, one of Agosto’s owners. “They said ‘See you in a month.’”

They’ll be back soon: the festival wraps up with a three-day party called “A Saidera,” or “The Nightcap,” that Maya said will attract 30,000 to 35,000 revelers. But the fun has spread to three other Brazilian cities that hold their own Comida di Buteco, including Goiania (starting July 31) and two hotspots not accustomed to taking their cues from a business city with no beaches: Rio de Janeiro (May 29) and Salvador (Sept. 11).

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Posted by Morent on May 15, 2009 15:00 ET

Your article is an invitation to visit Brazil.You made me hungry!

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