The City Tours Are Amazing: Uxua

Showing posts with label Uxua. Show all posts

Monday, 11 January 2010

Best restaurants in Trancoso by Wilbert Das, owner of Uxua Casa Hotel

adword January 11, 2010 Add Comment

Wilbert Das, who retired on December 31 from his longtime position as Diesel's creative director, owns one of the hippest little hotels in Trancoso, Brazil's glammest beach destination: the Uxua Casa Hotel (pictured above).

He spends good part of the year in Trancoso and he wrote a great list of restaurant recommendations for the guests of his hotel, which I am now sharing here:

Trancoso dining by Uxua's Wilbert Das

As tiny as Trancoso appears to be, it offer a tremendous variety of food, running the gamut from salt-of-the-earth Bahian home cooking to the freshest sushi.

Of course, local chefs are always available for preparing catered meals in each UXUA casa.

LAILA ADIPE ASSEF BISTRO
This inviting dining room (which resembles a living room) features Laila’s tasty home cooking – and a passel of guest chefs over the course of the year.

MARITACA
A Trancoso hot spot offers informal pizzas, risottos and anything else that is easy to eat, plus a well-regarded wine list.

CACAU
Take Bahia, add a dash of contemporary sophistication, and you get this intimate dinner spot, set in a garden beside the historic Quadrado.

SABOR DA BAHIA
One of the first restaurants you’ll find when you enter the Quadrado, Sabor Da Bahia serves a mouthwatering Brazilian ‘Picanha’ with toasted vegetables, pineapple and french fries. Owned by a native family, the restaurant also serves traditional Bahian food and it opens for breakfast, serving home-made yoghurt at its open air tables.

CAPIM SANTO
This mix of trendy with traditional is among the oldest in town and has a creative menu signed by well-known chef Sandra Marques.

SUSHI TRANCOSO
Believe it or not, Japanese raw fish has long been popular in this remote fishing village – and here it’s served a mere 1-minute walk from the Quadrado.

MASALA
Fusion Asian cuisine, here? Why, of course, at this popular spot in the heart of Trancoso’s nightlife and only a two-minute walk from the Quadrado.

CANTINHO DOCE
Traditional Bahian cuisine rules at this open-air restaurant facing the church. Remember to leave room for the desserts, which are renowned throughout the village.

RESTAURANTE DA SILVANA
Set on the people-watching-conducive Quadrado, this restaurant features homestyle cooking a la Silvana, privy to the “original secrets” of Bahian cuisine.

EL GORDO
This culinary stunner is set on a cliff facing the ocean and is perfect for proposals, romance and anything else in need of a dose of drama. Includes a sushi bar and is sister restaurant of two well-regarded spots in the Bario Alto of Lisbon.

SABOR DO MUNDO
A mélange of European and Asian cuisine, thanks to the Dutch chef who has set up shop here in a bid to explore life in rural Brazil.

IL MERCATO
This Italian trattoria-slash-antiques shop has ocean views and a convenient location on the right side of the Quadrado.

PIZZOKERO
2 minutes walk from the Quadrado, this bar and restaurant is owned by an Italian Rasta who has been living in Bahia for nearly twenty years. Serving great pizzas and general Italian food, there is also a snooker table on the top floor. And on Tuesday and Saturday, live music make it the meeting point of the town.

LA NO DOM
Every beach village in the world has a famous sandwich place. In Trancoso it is LA NO DOM. Dom is the name of the guy who prepares tasteful pita-bread sandwiches with his famous eggplant sauce for over 15 years.

BEACH BARS

Life is not food alone. The beaches are dotted with places at which to enjoy the perfect sundowner.

UXUA PRAIA BAR (below)
UXUA’s own beach bar boasts a picturesque setting between the Trancoso River and Atlantic Ocean, is the only bar on Praia da Barra, and wears its green heart on its sleeve (it’s made partly from rebuilt fishing boats found on the property).

CABANA DO ANDREA
The brainchild of Andrea, an Italian native who came to Brazil in 1999, this bar is a true hybrid. Set on Coqueiros beach and marked by a Sardinian flag on the top, it also serves up deliciously authentic pizzas and fresh local fish.

PE NA PRAIA
Located on Rio Verde beach, this bar is frequented by the young and beautiful and is only 1.7 km from the Quadrado.

TOSTEX
Where would a beach town, even a remote one, be without a local nighttime hotspot? This club fits that description, with its dance music, special summer parties and visits from world-famous DJs.

Here, an amazing slideshow of photos by Fernando Lombardi of the Uxua Casa Hotel.

And more Trancoso on this blog:

Monday, 14 December 2009

New Year's parties in Trancoso, Bahia

Bahia New Year's Eve Réveillon Trancoso Uxua

adword December 14, 2009 Add Comment

Better safe than sorry: if you plan on being in Trancoso for New Year's Eve, I recommend that you buy tickets for some of the parties now, before they run out...

Here's what's on the schedule:

28/12  Pré-réveillon at the Uxua Praia Bar.   
30/12  Pré-reveillón at CACAU restaurant
31/12 Taípe rave, a Trancoso tradition, and also dinner-dance New Year's Party at the Estrela d'água hotel

02/01  party at Pousada Aldeia do Sol on the Praia do Rio Verde.

  You can buy a package which includes entry at all parties EXCEPT the ones on New Year's Eve, which all have an open bar, R$ 350 (girls) and R$ 500 (guys).

More info here.

Monday, 23 November 2009

Pirelli calendar is out, photographed in Trancoso, Bahia

Bahia Pirelli calendar Terry Richardson Trancoso Uxua

adword November 23, 2009 Add Comment

It's on today's WWD blog... The new Pirelli calendar is out! And it was photographed in Trancoso, Bahia, at the Uxua, a great little hotel we've been talking about here for a while...

Here's the press release about the 2010 Pirelli calendar:

"Pirelli Calendar 2010 by Terry Richardson

London, 19 November 2009 – The 2010 Pirelli Calendar, now in its 37th edition, was presented to the press and to guests and collectors from around the world, at its global premiere in London. The much-awaited appointment with ‘The Cal', a cult object for over 40 years, was held this year at Old Billingsgate, the suggestive late 19th century building on the banks of the Thames, where from 1875 to 1982 it housed the capital city's fish market.

Following China, immortalized by Patrick Demarchelier in the 2008 edition, and Botswana shot by Peter Beard a year later, 2010 is the year of Brazil and of American photographer Terry Richardson, the celebrated "enfant terrible" known for his provocative and outrageous approach.

In the 30 images that scan the months of 2010, Terry Richardson depicts a return to a playful, pure Eros. Through his lens he runs after fantasies and provokes, but with a simplicity that sculpts and captures the sunniest side of femininity. He portrays a woman who is captivating because she is natural, who plays with stereotypes in order to undo them, who makes irony the only veil she covers herself with. This is a return to the natural, authentic atmospheres and images of the ‘60s and ‘70s. It is a clear homage to the Calendar's origins, a throwback to the first editions by Robert Freeman (1964), Brian Duffy (1965) and Harry Peccinotti (1968 and 1969). Terry Richardson, like his illustrious predecessors, has chosen a simple kind of photography, without retouching, where naturalness prevails over technique and becomes the key to removing artificial excesses in vogue today to reveal the true woman underneath.

The rooster, the sabre, the jets of water and the old tyres become the punctuation marks giving rhythm and harmony to the tale told by Richardson, where suggestions of the Pop Art that inspired some early editions of the Calendar merge with an Eros typical of this American photographer, that Eros which in the 2010 Cal is evoked only slightly, through allusions which Richardson uses to mock convention, giving form and carnality to things taboo.

This is a Calendar which Francesco Negri Arnoldi, former Art History Professor at the University of Salento in Lecce and University Tor Vergata in Rome, considers Pop. He defines it as "totally new, in its return to the past; absolutely original, in its consolidated tradition, and capable of rediscovering the charm of all-natural femininity". With the return to Pop Art, the language adopted is an essential and immediate iconographic language, understandable by all and contaminated only by daily life.

The 2010 edition is a clear expression and Terry Richardson is its interpreter: he portrays figures without frills, removed from complicated and artificial contexts set by fashion trends. The setting has no showy backgrounds or schemes, in line with the photographer's simplicity and focus on the essential. "A great photographer," says Richardson, "captures the moment – that's why I shoot without extra equipment and without assistants.

"My technique is the absence of technique: the lens is my eye, my charisma, my ability to capture moments of truth, whatever they may be, picture angles, use of color, light, scenery – these have always been the essential aspects of my photographic art."

Eleven models appear in the Calendar: Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Miranda Kerr of Australia, Eniko Mihalik from Hungary, Marloes Horst of the Netherlands, Lily Cole, Daisy Lowe, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley from the UK, Georgina Stojilijkovic of Serbia and two Brazilian natives, Gracie Carvalho and Ana Beatriz Barros."

And here, a few photos from the Richardson shoot.

Trancoso, Bahia: index of posts, by subject

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Uxua hotel in Trancoso, Bahia: photos of the Casa Seu João "suite"

Quadrado Trancoso Trancoso hotels Uxua Wilbert Das

adword November 14, 2009 Add Comment

The small and exclusive Uxua hotel in Trancoso isn't news to readers of this blog: I've written about it before, here. As the press release explains, "UXUA (pronounced ooh-shoo-ah) is a tropical utopia composed of nine unique houses offering total privacy with the added comfort of five-star hotel services. This stunning and unique destination enjoyed a May 2009 grand opening and has already hosted the likes of 11 world-famous supermodels and photographer Terry Richardson during the 2010 Pirelli Calendar shoot, as well as well-known Brazilian socialites and celebs.

UXUA, which in local native Pataxó Indian language means marvelous, is under the ownership and direction of long-time Diesel Creative Director Wilbert Das who realized the project as a tribute to the area of southern Bahia which he loves. Over three years Wilbert tapped Colonial, indigenous, and Afro-Bahian histories, arts and customs, and collaborated with local artisans using traditional building methods and recycled materials."

I just received some amazing pictures of one of its "casas", or suites - the Casa Seu João - which made me want to hop on a plane and just go. Be in Trancoso. Wake up facing the Quadrado (the town green). It's got to be my favourite spot in the world!

The Casa São João is one of a few original fisherman's houses which were bought and renovated by owner Wilbert Das. As the press release puts it, "accommodations at UXUA are found in nine extraordinary casas, each exquisitely outfitted with all of the accoutrements and special services that bring the property to the five-star level. Each has an indoor / outdoor living room, a full gourmet kitchen and sumptuous bedrooms (1-3 depending on the casa) with ensuite bath."

Well, the Casa Seu João, specifically, is exactly what the doctor ordered. It feels like a private beach house, with rustic armoires:

And a tub with a faucet fashioned out of a reclaimed tree branch:

Trancoso being warm year-round, there's not much need for walls:

I especially love the super cute and rustic kitchen:

Above the canopied bed, wooden shingles:

The bed faces the casa's private pool and garden:

Where there's a table for al fresco brunches:

And a pool all your own:

And right next to it, a daybed for lazy post-beach naps:

And, last but not least, an outdoor shower disguised as a tree trunk:

Rates per casa, per night start from $541 during low season (March through November) and $706 during high season (December through February).

Guests fly into São Paulo, Salvador, or Rio, and connect via numerous national and international airlines with multiple direct daily flights to Porto Seguro, a 1hr. cab ride from Trancoso and UXUA.

UXUA Casa Hotel: www.uxua.com. tel. +55 73 3668-2277

Photos: Fernando Lombardi

And more Trancoso on this blog: