Uniting gastronomy and culture is the bet of several entrepreneurs who command new operations in the Capital. And, as of today, the Historic Center gains a new space that meets this demand. With seven restaurants and a stage for shows, UP Food Art is the new gastronomic and cultural complex at Rua dos Andradas, nº 788. Located in a large house from the 1910s, the development received a contribution of R$ 1 million for renovation. The historic facade, however, was maintained.
Preservation stems from a care that Émerson Maicá, one of the partners in the new venture, retains for the address. “I live in the Historic Center and, for a long time, I ped by this front. I always imagined what could open here”, he talks about the building, which had been vacant for more than five years.
With that attentive eye on the region, Émerson joined his partner, Egles Notti, to bring the news to life. “The idea is to bring new services to Andradas. We are at the forefront of revitalizing the Historic Center, which deserves to be looked at with more care”, says Émerson about the business, which opens its doors this Wednesday, September 6th. UP Food Art has seven gastronomic operations, with options for parrilla, sushi, pasta, pizza, hamburgers, coffee and snacks. The complex also has a healthy food bistro and a drinks bar.
The brand behind the steakhouse is Santa Bodega, run by entrepreneurs from Cachoeirinha. Pasta and pizza are prepared by Otto Pizzeria, an establishment from Canoas. The hamburger shop and the bar selling snacks and drinks are the complex’s own brand.
In addition to food, UP Food Art offers artistic programs on stage for shows. “It’s a gastronomic park, but with a cultural bias”, says Émerson. The entrepreneur also runs Theatro Fuga, a business that, like the novelty of the Historic Center, has a cultural agenda.
UP Food Art is located at Rua dos Andradas, nº 788, in the Historic Center. The service takes place every day, from 10 am to midnight. The space holds about 230 people, and admission is free.
In the process of resuming the cultural agenda of the space, the club now has musical programs every Thursday
Liane Moro owns Filippa, a confectionery that occupies the gastronomy space of the Clube de Cultura Photo: TÂNIA MEINERZ/JC
Liane Moro, owner of Espaço Filippa. Revitalization of the Cultural Club. Gastronomy. Generation E Photo: TÂNIA MEINERZ/JC
With more than 20 years of experience in the kitchen, entrepreneur Liane Moro is the name behind Filippa confectionery. The operation, created in 2018, is now responsible for the bar and kitchen at the Clube de Cultura. After being closed for almost a year, the club opens its doors to the community and projects the resumption of the cultural agenda.
When she ran her first business, in 1998, Liane already had the cultural cause as her purpose. “We always did authorial fairs, events with live music, samba circles, even some theater skits”, remembers Liane. Over the years, the commitment to promoting the artistic scene in Porto Alegre increased, and, about a month ago, the opportunity arose to be part of the Clube de Cultura, which has been operating since 1950. “It is to unite these two fronts, confectionery and culture, which are food for the heart, for the body”, reflects the entrepreneur.
In the process of resuming the space’s cultural agenda, the club now has musical programs every Thursday, and already has confirmed names for the month of September, available on Instagram (@clubedecultura). “As circulation returns, the objective is to increase cultural activities to, more and more, move the cultural part of the club”, guarantees Liane, who was invited by the space’s treasurer, Carolina Baumann, to take over the kitchen. “I already knew the club for many years, it has a very important history. So, I thought it was really cool to join with the confectionery”, she declares.
The space’s menu seeks to offer affective cuisine, guarantees Liane, who developed an appreciation for cooking with her family. “My father used to cook a lot, my grandmother was a professional cook, so there’s a lot of that affective memory in Filippa’s recipes. I would say that around 80% of the recipes here are from the family”, she estimates. The walnut pie with soft eggs, which costs R$ 16.00 a slice, was a popular Christmas dessert for the family. “We’ve always been gathered around the table, the wood stove with the family, so it refers a lot to this affective thing, and culture is also affection. It has everything to do with the club”, she believes.
In addition to sweets, the house offers coffee, drinks and draft beer from Joana Artesanal, a brewery from Rio Grande do Sul. The space also has a collaborative shelf, which displays products from small local entrepreneurs, as well as a rack from the Profana store, which has already been news in GeraçãoE and is run by Liane’s sister.
For the future, the entrepreneur plans to include lunch, but for now, Filippa follows the club’s opening hours and operates as a cafeteria from Monday to Saturday, from 11:30 am to 7 pm.
Mocambo is the new operation of the Implicantes brewery, created in 2018 in Porto Alegre
Marcelo Pires and Daniel Dias are partners at Mocambo, a new bar that opened its doors in August in Cidade Baixa Photo: TÂNIA MEINERZ/JC
Founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs Diego and Daniel Dias, Marcelo Pires and Thiago Rosário, the Implicantes brewery was born with a well-defined concept: to be a beacon of black representation in the beer market. After closing its own production plant during the pandemic, the brand is now back in close contact with the end consumer in a new bar in Cidade Baixa. Mocambo opened its doors at the beginning of August, at Rua Joaquim Nabuco, nº 46.
The new establishment continues to bring the same ideals of promoting black Brazilian culture and history, seeking to be a representative space. Mocambo offers clic and authorial beers, as well as drinks and bar food in general – especially pizzas -, all of this in a small and cozy place. Upon entering the environment, customers are welcomed with the message “This place is free of racism and prejudice” and images of historical icons, such as a huge panel with the image of Elza Soares and paintings of personalities such as Leônidas da Silva, Malcom X and Muhamed Ali. These ideals translate into the name of the bar. Mocambo is a word of African origin, which, in the Brazilian popular imagination, has a pejorative connotation, being synonymous with something small and precarious. Naming the bar like that was an attempt to reframe the term.”We tried to show that even a small space can be a cozy space. The village house was called maloca. The village house is small, but it is organized, and people get together. feel good welcoming others there”, says Daniel.
Furthermore, the idea of the partners is to produce cultural events, both external and internal. One of the plans is to hold street events, with the aim of bringing culture, history and creating an inclusive environment in Cidade Baixa. “We’ve always thought, from the factory, on promoting culture. We want to create an environment where people are free, they don’t even need to consume. It’s to come and have a look, walk around, get to know, have this cultural experience. street, meet the local artist, go to an art show and see who is working”, says Marcelo, noting that they missed a place with the ideals of the brand in Cidade Baixa. “The idea is to bring black culture and history to Cidade Baixa, which was once a much more inclusive place than it is today”, explains Marcelo.
When it first appeared, Implicantes was located in the Anchieta neighborhood and had a more complex operation than the current one. The venture had its own factory and produced the brand’s copyright beers right there.” I know that everyone likes to say that it revolutionized the market, but it is with great pride that we say that, in fact, we changed something in the beer market. When we closed, we were able to see that other small bars and breweries started to have more of this representative footprint”, says Marcelo. The decision to close the factory came during the pandemic, given the difficulties of the moment. Now, with the new point, the goal is to continue selling beer, but with a leaner and less costly operation.
Mocambo is open from Wednesday to Saturday, from 5 pm to midnight. On Sundays, from 3 pm to 8 pm.