There’s a big wave of international chefs and restaurants opening or due to open in London this year (Studio Frantzén, JOIA, Miznon, Sushi Kanesaka, Yannick Alleno, Mauro Colagreco, Akira Back, and Burnt Ends to name a few) and the latest to land in the capital is Alberto Landgraf, the Brazilian chef behind the two Michelin-starred Oteque in Rio de Janeiro.
There’s a nice story behind this one, as Alberto actually began his cooking career in London 20 years ago, starting out with no experience in the kitchens of Tom Aikens and Gordon Ramsay among others. Since then, he’s had a big success with Oteque back in Brazil and is now looking to bring a bit of Brazilian flavour back to London.
Bossa has taken over the old Maroush Lebanese restaurant just north of Oxford Street, which is actually next door to the Brazilian consulate. It’s a big open dining room featuring a large kitchen with counter seating at the back, so grab a stool here if you want a front-row seat. There’s also a bar at the back where you can sit and have a pre-dinner drink, as well as a private dining room hidden behind a wine wall.
Unlike Oteuqe which is a tasting menu set-up, Bossa is designed to be a bit more casual with a short, sharp menu of starters, mains, and desserts. An early absolute must-order is the starter of scallops – two perfectly cooked big juicy scallops, slightly browned on the outside and sitting in a beautiful tucupi sauce, with leeks and buckwheat. Our other starter was a deluxe riff on a common Brazilian street food, pastel, which are essentially like little pasties – at Bossa they are stuffed with fresh crab and served with a fresh acai sauce.
For mains, we went for another Brazilian classic, moqueca, a seafood stew with prawns, squid, tomato and coconut milk found in the north of Brazil. Bossa’s version is elegant and refined but still packs the soulful, flavourful punch you expect from the dish. It’s served with side dishes of rice, banana farofa, and beans.
The highlight for us though was a dish that was brand new on the menu that night, roast rump of lamb cooked perfectly medium rare on top of an absolute flavour bomb of soft grilled aubergine – here’s hoping it’s now a permanent feature on the menu. For dessert, we finished up with a traditional Brazilian dessert, quindim, a rich egg and coconut custard tart.
There’s a great wine list here too, featuring a lot of natural wines from all around the world – we particularly liked a punchy Chilean red, Santa Cruz de Coya. There’s lots available by the glass too which we always like to see.
Modern Brazilian is not something we’ve seen too much of here in London, so Bossa, with its fresh punchy flavours and killer wine list, is a very welcome addition to the city’s restaurant scene.
4 Vere St, London W1G 0DH
bossa.co.uk