Taking the restaurant-only elevator to the top of Italia Tower, Sao Paulo’s tallest building, I used ‘I came to look at the menu’ as an excuse to visit the open observation platform completely surrounding the penthouse and this superb dining room within it. The only trouble with this ploy is that, once you see the menu and the room itself, you’ll be hooked into staying for dinner.

The restaurant was called ‘Terraco Italia’. Once I had my first dinner there, I never considered any other. Rarely do decor, food quality, service and view all come together as well as they did here. Practically every table had a skyline view in at least two directions. Diners at the far end of the room enjoyed marvelous views every which way but North, but these tables were often reserved for groups. (Partial-height dividers helped minimize the effect these large groups had on smaller parties.)

Since my five dinners here were in November 1999, I can’t recall specific menu details. I do recall two or three superb seafood dishes and never any meal that was remotely unsatisfying. All this while watching sunset spread over Sao Paulo’s near-infinite sea of rooftops.

This would have been an expensive restaurant by Brazilian standards, but I’ve paid more at Chicago restaurants that couldn’t come close to the quality here. Terraco Italia, in the Italia Tower, is a place I’ll return to. (The reason I lucked out and had photos for this journal was that I’d wanted my travel agent to see what the restaurant was like.)

On my first afternoon of ‘sightseeing by wandering around,’ I scouted other Sao Paulo restaurants. I saw several with appealing menus and ambiance, mainly along the side streets extending from the northwest side of Praca de Republica. For variety, check these out too.