Nelita: Tássia Magalhães's All-Women Kitchen in São Paulo

In Pinheiros, behind a green façade that has become a neighborhood landmark, sits one of São Paulo's most celebrated new-generation addresses: Nelita, run by chef Tássia Magalhães.

From inland São Paulo to Copenhagen

Born and raised in Guaratinguetá, in the interior of São Paulo state, Tássia graduated at 19 from the Senac hotel school in Campos do Jordão. She sharpened her technique at restaurants including the Italian Pomodori — then led by Jefferson Rueda of A Casa do Porco — and through stages in Denmark, among them the three-Michelin-starred Geranium.

She opened her own restaurant in 2021. Since then she has taken Chef of the Year from the magazine Prazeres da Mesa, been named Best Female Chef by Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, and climbed quickly up that ranking to number 21.

An all-women brigade, in full view

What sets Nelita apart is who stands at the stoves: a kitchen staffed entirely by women, working in full view of the dining room in a space of exposed brick and an open counter. If you like watching the work happen, the counter is the best seat in the house.

There, Tássia reworks Italian cooking with her own voice and Brazilian ingredients, favoring small producers and whatever is in season.

What to order

Favorites include potato gnocchi with house-made coalhada — a fresh Brazilian curd cheese — in a parmesan brodo; eggplant cappelli with seaweed and funghi; and aged porco canastra, a prized Brazilian heritage pork, with taioba greens and tucupi, the fermented cassava broth of the Amazon. The through-line is European technique carrying Brazilian ingredients.

Desserts run on the same logic of contrast. The menu has featured yogurt with liver and lemon, and coconut with fried cassava and white chocolate. The bonbon that closes the meal changes often, from gorgonzola dolce to acerola cherry.

To mark the restaurant's fourth anniversary, Tássia served a special tasting menu with ravioli filled with fermented tomatoes and foie gras ganache, and a caramelized milk flan with mullet roe.

Planning a visit

There are two ways to eat here: the tasting menu, served at the counter, and à la carte. A private room inside the wine cellar handles events and celebrations. Nelita also runs themed menus for special dates — the Valentine's edition moved from scallops with baroa potato to a chocolate and cupuaçu dessert.

Book ahead. The room is small and the counter seats go fast.