Elite Chef Demo: Brazilian Cuisine with Manu Buffara
Manoella (Manu) Buffara is the executive chef and owner of Manu, No. 42 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. The tasting menu at the 20-seat restaurant in Curitiba, Brazil — about 250 miles southwest of Sao Paulo — sources regional ingredients from the surrounding state of Paraná. Manu will demonstrate a scallop dish with Brazil nuts and nirá oil.
Manu is recognized as an activist and influential figure in Brazilian gastronomy for her exclusive use of organic ingredients from her garden, foraging and carefully curated suppliers. She's installed 4,000 beehives in the region and transformed 89 abandoned sites into urban gardens, educating local communities on agriculture and farm-to-table sustainability. Manu staged at Alinea and Noma, trained in Alaska and Italy, and has plans to open a New York outpost called Ella this year.
