A Slice of Heaven

Whenever I tell people how good the pizza is in São Paulo, they almost always react with great skepticism. Pizza? In Brazil? But pizza Paulistana, one of the foundations of São Paulo's gastronomic culture, is so shockingly good that you'll soon forget the marriage of dough, cheese, and tomato sauce originated anywhere else.

On any night Pizzaria Bráz, one of the city's 5,000-plus pizzerias, is flooded with revelers. White-jacketed waiters serve ice-cold chope (Brazilian draft beer), pão de calabresa (loaves of sausage-stuffed bread, served piping hot), and the tastiest pizza ever to emerge from a brick oven.

"Do not eat it with your hands," I'm told. That's not the Brazilian way. Here, pizza is eaten in a more refined manner, with a knife and fork. "Do not serve yourself!" I'm scolded again. As the waiters navigate the floor, they serve your next piece with the grace of ballerinas.

I devour the four-cheese pizza (taleggio, pecorino, caciocavallo, and gorgonzola) and another, called Fosca (smoked ham, mozzarella, and a Brazilian cream cheese known as Catupiry). My level of satisfaction hovers between giddy schoolboy first kiss and college commencement post-graduation cap toss. It's that good. People here say this is the best pizza in the world - that even the Italians are jealous. I have no rebuttal.

Which brings up the topic of superlatives. Try as you may, it's nearly impossible to avoid them anytime you're describing São Paulo. The biggest this, the best that, and so on. For instance, along Rua Oscar Freire — Brazil's equivalent to Rodeo Drive, in the leafy, upscale Jardim Paulista neighborhood — sits a shop called O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo, which translates as The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.

This enticing sweet shop serves only its namesake item. But like São Paulo itself, this cake is not what you think. As I devour it, expecting a moist and dense dessert swimming in chocolate, my taste buds stutter-stop when it turns out to have a more cookie-like consistency, almost too dry if it weren't for the layers of oh-so-decadent, soft and gooey French chocolate. It turns out The Best Chocolate Cake in the World is both yeast free and flour free. — K.R.