Templo da Carne Marcos Bassi

Some rooms tell you exactly what to order the moment you sit down. Templo da Carne Marcos Bassi, in São Paulo, is one of them.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: Bixiga butcher shop turned dining altar. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with Caesar salad assembled tableside, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a quiet Brunello from the back of the list, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: costela bassi, the dish that puts Templo da Carne Marcos Bassi on every short list. It was, frankly, the best version of this cut I have had this year. The signature touch — the slow-cooked beef rib, falling off the bone — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for skin-on fries, twice-fried and grilled radicchio with anchovy butter. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was a wedge of chocolate cake to share, fork divided, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

If you are passing through São Paulo, do not pass Templo da Carne Marcos Bassi by.