GIUGIU Ristorante

Shops Jardins is one of the densest international-retail addresses in São Paulo — concentrating Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and other global maisons of fashion and beauty. In 2024, the moment was right to occupy, inside that corridor, an authored gastronomic position capable of dialoguing with the register of the neighboring brands — without sitting a step below them.

The idea came from a trip to Milan and London, three years earlier. From the junction between the Milanese fashion-gastronomic scene and the cosmopolitan London sophistication, the GIUGIU Ristorante concept was born — an Italian chapter among the maisons. The name came from the abbreviation of Giulia, a typical Italian family name meaning young; the register, from the desire to combine tradition with a contemporary, international approach.

The thesis was to bring Italian tradition without caricature — not the "generic trattoria" seen in any city, but a trattoria with maison curation. Ingredients of origin, fresh pasta made on the day, a space conceived as a real Italian dining room, and a service as attentive as that of the neighboring brands.

Art was embedded into the architecture: the entrance salon is anchored by a piece by the Minas Gerais sculptor Francisco Nuk — a carefully sculpted circular chest of drawers in which the drawers float, part of the series in which function surrenders to form. The space was built with marble, French oak in the Versailles pattern, lacquered wood, brass and selected fabrics, with furniture signed by Breton. The rooftop garden with abundant landscaping, overlooking Rua Haddock Lobo, completes the register — effortless elegance, and the richness of the metropolis right at the door.