Roberta Sudbrack reopens ‘Da Roberta’ with a new proposal and at another address in Rio de Janeiro

the chef Roberta Sudbrack is back with one of its biggest hits. O ‘from Roberta ‘, which closed its doors during the pandemic, reopened last Tuesday (11), in a completely restored 1920s house, in the neighborhood of Botafogo, at the Rio de Janeiro .

now inspired by street food around the world the place brings Sudbrack back to his origins, and once again rescues feelings from when he sold hot dogs with his grandmother Iracema through the streets of Brasilia.

“After I opened my first foodtruck and saw almost five-hour lines of people wanting to eat my sandwiches, I realized that this is what I loved and exactly where I wanted to be. Being in the middle of the street, in a relaxed way, was how I saw my business for years to come. I was very moved by all the success and decided to park the truck in a fixed place, inside a garage. So, I opened the doors of ‘Da Roberta’ in Leblon, in 2015″, recalls the chef, who had already been recognized in the world of gastronomy for many years

Roberta arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 2005 and opened the first restaurant to offer a tasting menu in the city. Always with fresh and Brazilian ingredients, the place that bore her name gained the trust and taste of many people, conquering a Michelin star and adding awards during its 12 years of operation.

the trajectory

Despite all the glamor that a starred chef has at her disposal, Sudbrack has always preferred “low profile” restaurants. The trajectory, which looks like a fairy tale from the outside, took a lot of struggle and persistence to reach the place where it arrived.

When she was younger, she received an unmissable opportunity to study veterinary medicine in the United States. She loved (and still loves) animals and thought that was her future. Little did she know that moving to another country would change all of her plans.

“I was raised by my grandparents and I always admired my grandmother in the kitchen. She was always a fighter and my reference for everything. I had this opportunity to study abroad with the money from the hot dogs I sold with her. For the first time, I moved in alone and had to learn to cook. It worked very well and I started selling takeout at the Brazilian embassy in Washington,” says Roberta.

Without taking courses, he learned to cook on his own and dedicated his time to studying gastronomy the way he could: immersing himself in the books he had at his disposal, with a lot of discipline. She decided to return to Brazil to invest in what she had discovered as a vocation and was encouraged by the one who supported her in everything.

“My grandmother just told me: is this what you want to do? So make the best of it. What can I do to help you? As she was a skilled seamstress, I asked her to make my first lab coat, embroidered with my name”, she recalls.

Back in Brasilia, through “word of mouth”, he began to prepare dinners at the homes of important figures in Brazilian politics. In one of these meetings, which were always full of authorities, she met former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

“I was told at the last minute that two more guests would arrive and it was him with his wife, Dona Ruth. He was in his first term and had never had a head chef in charge of his home’s meals. He liked the idea and started working for him on special events. After a few dinners, he invited me to stay at Palácio da Alvorada, making the daily food. He loved hash browns and roasted chicken. He used simple and Brazilian ingredients, which showed the identity of our country. It was a wonderful experience,” he says.

After finishing his cycle in Brasília in 2003, he decided to move to another city. Already known in the field, she was invited to command a space in São Paulo with a complete structure, but she turned it down. Just wanting to succeed, not knowing anyone, she opted for the more difficult path. “Obstination”, she classifies her. She arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 2005 to open the starry “Roberta Sudbrack”.

“I never worked thinking about prizes and I always tell my cooks not to work thinking about that. What is important to me is the relationship you have with the producer and the ingredients, in addition to the language we create to talk to the food. Roberta Sudbrack had a trajectory of 12 years. During ten of them I was very happy. We won everything that was possible, but I started to feel uncomfortable because I was so far away from the public, in an environment that I no longer saw as making sense”, he ponders.

After many trips around the world, he started to observe street food more closely and the way it was prepared in each place, mainly in Europe, with seriousness and a great relationship between entrepreneurs and artisanal producers. Hence the desire to have its own Foodtruck in 2015, which soon became the from Roberta and also encouraged her to open another restaurant, the Sud, the Green Bird which has been in the Botanical Garden for five years.

Roberta’s new

The reopening with a different proposal maintains the essence that has always guided the chef’s restaurants. Valuing small Brazilian producers, Da Roberta’s menu is not fixed. Each week it is designed and adapted according to what is best among its suppliers. What changes in this new format is that in addition to its famous sandwiches, portions and dishes exploring flavors of street food around the world will be served – but always made with ingredients from Brazil. “It’s a street food bar”, she classifies.

And anyone who is already a fan of the chef can rest assured: SudDog, her iconic hot dog, is a sure presence there, and tops the list of ‘street foods’. Made in a baguette, with a slightly spicy sausage and lots of melted Brazilian cheese (R$34), it was the most requested item on the opening day.

“The pandemic shook everything up and it was a great learning experience for me. We closed Da Roberta and continued with the Sud restaurant, which had to adapt to Delivery. I had never done it and I confess that I had a prejudice. I got slapped in the face because you saved my business. I didn’t have to fire anyone and I reinvented myself. We created a kitchen geared towards deliveries, with the aim of turning it into the new Da Roberta as soon as things stabilized. Everything worked out and today we are here”, celebrates the chef.

Super spicy redneck chicken wing (R$ 29 – 4 units); Pork ribs gyoza (R$ 28 – 4 units); Brisket Texas Barbecue, with baked potato and coleslaw (R$59); Roberta’s falafel, with hummus, Mediterranean salad, sumac curd and unleavened bread (R$47); SudBurger, with melted raclette cheese, lettuce, marinated tomatoes and spicy mayonnaise (R$65) and lasagna with ragout, bechamel, cheese, accompanied by fresh organic salad (R$49) are among the options on the reopening menu.

There, customers will also find desserts, such as the chef’s wet chocolate cake (R$ 38), and options for wines, beers and drinks, such as caipirinha, Negroni, Martini, Gin Tonic and Aperol.

From Roberta: Rua Mena Barreto 105, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro / Tel.: (21)-99370-9996 / Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 12h to 22h.