Gero São Paulo: Where Italy Finds You in the Heart of Brazil
Sit down at Gero and, for a moment, São Paulo recedes. What you find instead is a table that could belong to Milan or Bologna — unhurried, precise, quietly assured. This is what the Fasano group has offered since Gero first opened in Jardins, and what its second São Paulo address, Gero Itaim at Hotel Fasano São Paulo Itaim, continues to deliver. Here, we'll walk you through both restaurants: their kitchens, their spaces, and why, in a city that never stops competing for your attention, they remain the most considered expression of Italian dining in Brazil.
Our founder Gero Fasano conceived the restaurant as an authentic Italian trattoria, a space where the antipasti room and traditional menu coexist in an environment that evokes the family homes of northern Italy, without falling into pastiche. This vision continues to guide each new Gero opening, from Salvador to Belo Horizonte, through Rio de Janeiro.
Our Chefs' Philosophy
At Gero Itaim, the kitchen is under the command of chef Lomanto Oliveira. What you encounter in his cooking is an approach faithful to the restaurant's identity: primacy of ingredients, respect for classic Italian technique and, where seasonality calls for it, openness to adaptations that speak to the Brazilian palate.
The menu explores the richness of Italian cuisine in its multiple layers, from delicate starters to hearty meat and fish dishes that define the Italian table at its best. Oliveira has added several new dishes to the menu since opening, expanding the restaurant's repertoire while keeping its essence. The food here doesn't chase trends; it chases flavour.
At Restaurante Fasano, within Hotel Fasano São Paulo in Jardins, chef Luca Gozzani has led the kitchen since 2012. The restaurant has maintained a Michelin star since 2015, establishing high Italian gastronomy as the backbone of our culinary identity. Sommelier Manoel Beato completes the team, with a wine cellar built around Barolos, Brunellos and distinguished Châteaux — selections gathered over years of travel through the wine regions of Italy and France.
A Menu Of Classics
Classic Italian cuisine, when well executed, doesn't need reinvention, it needs dedication. The menu navigates Italy's regions with consistency, favoring risottos, pasta, meat and fish worked with technique and restraint.
Among the pastas, the buffalo mozzarella ravioli with fresh tomato and basil and the fettuccine with lamb ragù and wild mushrooms are worth your attention — dishes that take time and care, and show it. The risotto selection shifts with the seasons: a classic with porcini, and a delicious pairing of shrimp and pumpkin. For mains, the grilled sea bass with caper sauce and the filet mignon medallion with Marsala remain much-loved reasons to return.
Desserts are handled with the same approach and attention to detail: a tiramisù of real conviction, vanilla panna cotta, and pistachio profiteroles with mascarpone ice cream. The wine list holds its own alongside the kitchen — Italian labels lead, with a handful of Brazilian selections chosen for their complimentery character.
Designing The Space
Hotel Fasano São Paulo Itaim was designed by architect Marcio Kogan in partnership with the aflalo/gasperini studio. Here, Italian heritage meets contemporary design: freijó wood panels, basalt stone floors and an integrated lobby that connects different areas of the building with fluidity. Gero Itaim restaurant accommodates 100 seats, plus a private space for up to 20 guests — useful to know if you're planning a corporate dinner or a celebration that deserves particular attention — and a terrace.
Over at Hotel Fasano São Paulo, in Jardins, Marcio Kogan collaborated with Isay Weinfeld to design the space, where parquet flooring, Persian rugs, Venetian moldings and Murano glass fixtures filter the light to create a calm elegant atmosphere. Restaurante Fasano seats 80 guests in the main dining room, with an additional private room for 26 people too.
At the same address, Baretto, voted by Wallpaper\ Magazine* as the world's best bar, maintains its program of bossa nova and cool jazz until midnight, when the repertoire migrates to swing and bebop. Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Jamie Cullum have performed there, giving the space a musical dimension entirely its own.
A Presence Beyond Jardins
Gero's strength in São Paulo lies, in part, in its capacity to exist in multiple contexts without losing identity. Opened in 2023 to mark the original restaurant's 30th anniversary, Gero Itaim planted the same Italian approach in Itaim Bibi — one of the city's most concentrated hubs of business and nightlife — that has defined the group since Vittorio Fasano opened Brasserie Paulista in 1902.
The expansion of the Gero concept to Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Salvador follows the same logic: not to replicate a formula, but to translate a culinary philosophy to each context. At Gero Rio, within Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro, executive chef Luigi Moressa creates dishes inspired by the climate and rhythm of Rio without abandoning classic foundations. In Belo Horizonte and Salvador, the same rigor in ingredients, risottos, pasta, fish and meat, defines the experience, with nuances that dialogue with each city's identity. Gero Salvador also features a climate-controlled wine cellar integrated into the dining room, a detail that underlines our appreciation of the relationship between wine and food.
What unites all these locations is the refusal to compromise. Gero doesn't serve generic Italian cuisine. It serves Italian cuisine with authorship — and whether you find yourself in São Paulo, Rio or Salvador, that distinction is always worth the journey.
Reservations and Addresses
You'll find Gero Itaim in Hotel Fasano São Paulo Itaim, at Rua Pedroso Alvarenga, 706, Itaim Bibi. Reservations and information at fasano.com.br.
Or visit Restaurante Fasano at Hotel Fasano São Paulo, at Rua Vittorio Fasano, 88, Jardins. With a Michelin star since 2015, advance reservations are recommended. Information at fasano.com.br.