New Latin Foodscape: All In, Brazilian-Style, at San Paolo Pizza & Wine
Opening a Waikīkī restaurant specializing in craft Brazilian pizza seemed like the natural thing to do for Andre Alves de Moraes.
Editor’s note: This is part four of a five-part story from HONOLULU’s April issue exploring Honolulu’s new wave of Latin restaurants.
Peruvian Corner | Guaiqueri | La Casita | San Paolo Pizza & Wine | Mercado de la Raza
Portuguese pizza. Photo: Courtesy of San Paolo Pizza & Wine
“I’m all in,”Andre Alves de Moraes says. “If I’m not gonna do it the right way, it’s not worth doing at all.” He’s at San Paolo Pizza & Wine, the 170-seat restaurant he and two partners opened last year where Ala Moana Boulevard curves toward Waikīkī. San Paolo sells Brazilian-style pizzas, a thriving remnant of Italian immigration to South America in the early 20th century. Convincing diners about pizza’s place in Brazilian cuisine is easy because people understand the melding of tradition with local ingredients. Convincing them that they should pay $50 for his pizza is different.
San Paolo pizzas are craft pies unlike any we know. Alves de Moraes, who launched O‘ahu’s three Tropical Tribe açaí cafés, is from (did you guess?) São Paolo. To a large degree, so are the pizzas: The forno oven, one of two chefs, and ingredients like soft catupiry cheese and smoky Calabresa sausages are from Brazil. Much of the rest is from Italy, including the other chef (who Alves de Moraes says placed third in a global Neapolitan pizza competition), pizza flour, pepperoni and specialty cheeses.
The dough, left to rest for two to three days, produces a light, chewy crust whose edges balloon with crispy air pockets. It’s excellent—all in, with live Brazilian music on weekends, double-stitched faux leather place mats, and water served in stemware driving home the point that pizza can be upscale.
There are 27 pizzas now, large, loaded and big enough for two: traditional Italian pies, others with filet mignon or truffle cream, and a Portuguese pizza with ham and eggs and olives. For $40, you can try mini slices of all 27.
“It’s always hard when you’re the first one to do something. I want to break the barrier of what people think of pizza,” Alves de Moraes says. “Ours take days to make—we import high-quality ingredients, use long fermentation and prep handcrafted meats and sauces. Pizza can be just as elevated, just as complex in flavors and prep, as any other kind of food.”
