Favela Chic - Favela Fake

Show Cibele Favela Chic
Originally uploaded by jucafx

Numa cidade tao multicultural como Londres nao eh de se estranhar que voce encontre um bar com tema brasileiro. Alias tem varios espacos brazucas por aqui, desde restaurantes como o Rodizio Rio (uma churrascaria rodizio perto de casa que dizem que eh ohtima - eu, sendo vegetariana, obviamente nunca entrei e jamais entrarei). Tem tambem o quilinho famoso na Oxford Street que eu jah passei pra comer um pao de queijo, mas pra ser sincera nao fui muito com a cara do lugar nao... E tem as baladinhas que tocam samba e afins. Tenho a impressao de que sao geralmente uma representacao meio esteriotipada do Brasil soh pra ingles ver, mas nao posso falar muito porque nao fui em nenhum desses lugares ainda.

O Brasil, pra falar a verdade, eh bem na moda aqui. Nunca vi tanta Havaina na rua como nos ultimos meses de primavera e verao. E falo sem medo de errar que vi mais do que no proprio Brasil. Tambem nao se iluda se encontrar alguem com a camiseta do Brasil e for logo falando com o individuo em portugues, as chances sao de que ele nao eh brasileiro.

Mas eu quero mesmo eh falar dessa foto ai que eu tirei no Favela Chic. O Favela costuma ser bem conhecido mundo a fora, parece um bar brasileiro, pois eh essa mesmo a impressao que o nome quer passar, mas nao eh! Na verdade eh um bar frances (embora um dos socios seja brasileiro), o primeiro que foi aberto esta em Paris e diz a lenda eh o melhor tambem. Londres ganhou uma filial em Old Street, pertinho da agencia onde estou trabalhando. Sempre passo na frente, teve noite que ateh tentei entrar com uma turma de amigos gregos, mas a fila estava ridiculamente grande. Na noite da foto em questao, porem, estava rolando o show da Cibele, uma cantora brasileira que vive aqui amiga do Alvaro que por sua vez coseguiu os convites pra gente (eu e Debora).

Bom jeitinho de matar a curiosidade do lugar. A decoracao eh bem legal com varios motivos brasileiros, mas claramente apenas uma decoracao... Nao tem o clima, nao tem a atmosfera brazuca. A musica estava muito boa, tocou desde Pixinguinha ateh Seu Jorge e Jorge Ben. Fora isso, tudo absurdamente caro e pretencioso... O Guarana Antarctica mais caro da minha vida: 3 libras e nao era nem a latinha toda.

Mesmo assim, a noite foi boa. ;-)

On such a multicultural city as London it is not surprising to find a Brazilian theme bar. As a mater of fact, there are quite a few of them here, like the Rodizio Rio (a barbeque place said to be very good – as a vegetarian I haven’t been there and have no intention to do so). There is also the “kilo” place in Oxford Street (kilo is a type of proper food fast-food good value for money we have in every corner in Brazil) where I have been once to have a cheese bread, but I have to admit it didn’t came across to me as being a good place for food… And there are also all the samba-Brazilian-music clubs. However I get the impression they are all stereotypes of what Brazil is really all about, although I can’t say much, because I haven’t been to any of them yet.

Brazil is actually a big trend here in London. I’ve never seen so many Havaianas flip flops on the streets as on the past months of summer and spring. And I say, with no fear, that I have seen more of them here than in Brazil. It’s also a fact that no one should assume that anyone wearing a Brazilian t-shirt is Brazilian; it’s most likely this person is not!

But what I really want to talk about is this picture that I have taken at Favela Chic the other day. Favela tends to be quite well known around the world, and it looks like a Brazilian venue, which is exactly the kind of impression it wants to give, but it’s not! In fact, it is a French bar (although one of the partners is a Brazilian). The first was opened in Paris and it is said to be the best. London got it’s own venue in Old Street, close to where I work. So I always pass by it, I have even tried to get in once with a group of friends, but the queue was ridiculous big. On the night of this picture, there was a gig going on, a Brazilian singer called Cibele who is friend of friends who got me the tickets to get in.

It was a good way to get to know the place. The decoration is very nice with all Brazilian motifs one could think about, however any Brazilian could see it is just decoration… It lacks a sense of the Brazilian way and atmosphere. The music was really good, though, from classics like Pixinguinha to Seu Jorge and Jorge Ben. Apart from that, everything really expensive and pretentious… The most expensive Guarana of my life: £3 and that was just for the glass.