São Paulo #go: Lunch and concert at an old music palace in downtown

Colorful décor from past decades, eight musicians playing Cuban music and tasty Brazilian food. Last Saturday’s good surprise was lunch at Casa de Francisca (Francisca’s house) in old Downtown São Paulo.

Retro décor and music inspiration at Casa de Francisca

Installed in a recently restored palace from 1910, called Palacete Teresa, the building used to host São Paulo’s first instrument shop, a music publisher and a radio station back in the golden age of radio. All of this made the address known as “São Paulo’s musical corner”.

Casa de Francisca opened its door in this famous corner 7 months ago – after 10 years at another neighborhood. The musical curatorship is as good as the food and the great atmosphere. It was beautiful to see people from all ages enjoying a lazy Saturday lunch with Banda Quimbará performance and drinks.

Charming saloon and restaurant – what about this movie audience kinda tables?

Banda Quimbará and its lively music performed with guitar, trumpet, sax, piano, contrabass and other Latin instruments and percussion

Tasty food – in the photo you have ceviche, crispy sweet potato and a Brazilian dish with ribeye and other local ingredients (too hard to translate)

Banda Quimbará played Latin music, traveling around the Caribbean with traditional Cuban rhythms, Colombian cumbia and salsa from Puerto Rico. The performance honored all the musical fame the palace collects from the beginning of the century. It was a fun and different lunch – one of those findings you feel like telling everyone to go.

Entrance from the building projected by German architect Augusto Fried in 1910

Chandelier at the bar

Casa de Francisca
Rua Quintino Bocaiúva, 22 - Sé
São Paulo - SP - Brazil

Little note:

Although Brazil is part of Latin America, we don’t feel like part of Latin America. We don’t speak the same language, weren’t colonized by the same country, don’t listen to the same music – can’t even tell the difference between salsa and cumbia – and sometimes don’t even realize this is an issue. You can easily hear a Brazilian saying: “I’m traveling to Latin America”, as if we’re not in Latin America already. Sad, but true.