The World at your Table

From the beautiful island Ilhabela to good cuisine

Chef Renata Vanzetto has restaurants in São Paulo and Ilhabela, where she was brought up. She is the mother of four-year-old Ziggy and one-year-old Max and she provides tips for visiting the place where she spent her infancy and now enjoys with her children

By Walterson Sardenberg Sº

Renata Vanzetto had instant success. When she opened, at the age of 17, her first restaurant, Marakuthai, in Ilhabela, on the north coast of São Paulo, where she grew up, she drew attention right away. So much so that, in that year, she won the award of Revelation Chef from the discerning Guia Quatro Rodas. One year later, Renata went to São Paulo to open other branches of the restaurant.

Once again, the success was such that the chef was inclined to open new restaurants, with other concepts. Prior to that, she trained in Europe at starred restaurants, including Noma, the multi-award-winning Danish restaurant of René Redzepi, in Copenhagen. Today, at 32 years old, Renata is in charge of nine restaurants, ranging from cafeterias to buffets. They all have fun names, such as Miado and Muquifo. “I want them to be, above all, informal and young places that are enjoyable to visit,” she explains.

Married since 2017 with the architect and entrepreneur Cassiano Monjardim, the chef is the mother of two children: Ziggy, four, and Max, one. She often travels with them to the north coast of São Paulo.

In this conversation with Family Trip Magazine, Renata talks about the best of Ilhabela, explains a little about her trajectory and provides tips for traveling with children.

You are from São Paulo, but you spent your childhood and adolescence in Ilhabela. How did that come about

My parents wanted a better quality of life. So, we moved to the island when I was just over a year old. The family liked it so much that, little by little, other family members also moved there. I had a caiçara childhood, with lots of beaches and waterfalls. Nothing better.

Do you still go to Ilhabela

Yes. To this day, my family still lives there. Also, I have a restaurant on the island, the Pescadora. But I go less, due to my business interests in São Paulo.

What’s the best thing about the island?

The beauty, of course. Nature is preserved, with the sea being very close to the mountains. It is a beautiful landscape. A significant point in its favor in relation to the other places on the north coast is that the island already has a well-developed infrastructure. It now has, for example, good schools.

What places in Ilhabela would you highlight?

Castilians and Bonete are already well-known beaches but they are still beautiful. Praia do Jabaquara is also very attractive and now has a very nice bar. And, of course, I can recommend my restaurant (she laughs).

What other restaurants?

The traditional Viana is famous for its shrimp dishes in a shell. I also go to Brasa for the meat. It is very good! Recently, a French person moved to the island and set up a restaurant that is not so pretty. Far from it. It is, by the way, in a street away from the tourist area. It’s Le Blé D’Or, which is a simply fantastic confectionery.

Where do you go in Ilhabela with the children?

To the Manapani beach bar, in Saco da Capela. It has an excellent structure for kids, with a playground and everything. You can even borrow toys for them to play in the sand.

You started cooking at an early age, didn’t you?

When I was still very young, I used to admire my grandmother cooking. I was self-taught. Only later did I train in large restaurants in Europe. Before this, at the age of 17, I opened Marakuthai, in Ilhabela, with my mother, father and aunt. The name came from the influence of Thai cuisine. From there we inaugurated branches in São Paulo, Jardins and Itaim-Bibi. The idea was to merge the caiçara cuisine with the Thai, but all in an unpretentious and informal manner. It worked out.

Why did you sell Marakuthai?

I no longer had the time to supervise it because I was involved in several other projects.

Today you have nine restaurants and a buffet. Are they very different from each other?

Yes, my idea is to create projects with their own identities. It’s what I like to do. Each one of them follows a concept. Still, there is a common denominator: they are informal and young. The idea is that they are, above all, cool places and pleasant to visit.

How do you manage so many businesses at the same time?

I have several partners and each one takes care of a part. The office is large, as is the team. Only in this way can I dedicate myself intensely to the cooking in each place.

Can you summarize the concept of each one of them?

Sure. At Muquifo, the menu is more São Paulo and more familiar. It serves dishes like pasta and even stroganoff, which the children love. Pescadora has a more beach-type feel, with lots of seafood. Ema is highlighted by a more creative and more authorial cuisine. MeGusta, in turn, is a restaurant with Peruvian and Mexican influences. At Miado the food is Asian, while Matilda offers creative snacks. It’s a diner, but very different. Mé is a tavern. The most recent is Mico, with Arabic cuisine.

Where do you travel with your children?

To Ilhabela and Camburi, also on the north coast of São Paulo, where we have summer vacation homes. The next trip with the children will be to a beach resort, Carmel Taíba, which is 75 kilometers from Fortaleza, Ceará.

What is most important when traveling with children?

First of all, the logistics to get there. You cannot sit for hours on a plane, then a car and then a boat. It’s very complicated. Secondly, the place needs to have some infrastructure. And, of course, attractions for the children, even if they are not just for them.

Services

Discover Grupo EME, with the different restaurants Ema, Me Gusta, Mé Taberna, Muquifo, Matilda, Mi.Ado e Mico.

Discover Pescadora, Cozinha do Mar in Ilhabela.