34 years old, Rio de Janeiro born, Raphael Rego received the honor and is the first Brazilian to be awarded by the famous guide.
On the night of January 21st, in Paris, Rio de Janeiro-born Raphael Rego, 34, was consecrated as the first Brazilian to join the most renowned of gastronomic guides with a restaurant based in France, one of the cradles of world cuisine. Founded and run by him, Oka became the first Brazilian cuisine restaurant installed outside Brazil to join the Michelin Guide – it was awarded a star.
Among the emblematic dishes of the house, we highlight the fermented black beans with cachaça and caramelized lemon juice, served with buckwheat balls; and the white chocolate sphere with açaí and passion fruit. Besides valuing Brazilian ingredients, Raphael makes constant trips to Brazil to research and create partnerships with producers. His most recent expeditions took him to Belém and Recife and yielded fruits that today benefit Pernambuco communities and artisans who work with forest inputs.
Another Brazilian living outside the country has already won a Michelin star, chef Marcelo Ballard, from Oak, a restaurant in Ghent, Belgium, specialized in international contemporary food. In Brazil, more than 20 restaurants have been awarded stars from the Michelin Guide Rio de Janeiro & São Paulo. Among them, DOM (Alex Atala), Tuju (Ivan Ralston) and Oro (Felipe Bronze, who has just opened a new house in São Paulo) received two stars in 2018.
OKA
1, Rue Berthollet, Tel .: 01 45 30 94 56; www.okaparis.fr.
