"It was a Friday night in June, and the Mercado Novo, or New Market, in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, was buzzing with activity despite the early-winter chill. Clusters of 20-somethings, illuminated by fairy lights strung up high in the building's soaring modernist atrium, chatted over craft beer and potent Caipirinhas. Tiny storefronts lined the narrow aisles of the market's upper floors, showcasing ceramics, clothes, and accessories from young designers and the food for which the surrounding state of Minas Gerais is justly famous."
"Near the back of the market, I met Rafael Quick, a graphic designer and cofounder of the market's culinary flagship, Cozinha Tupís, to taste some of his restaurant's decadent dishes, like chewy-crisp cheese and corn fritters and silky slices of cow tongue under a pavé of green tomatoes. At the time of the restaurant's founding in 2018, Quick told me, the market mostly died at night when the vegetable stands and print studios on the first two floors closed."
Minas Gerais combines deep culinary and craft traditions with a surge of contemporary creativity centered in Belo Horizonte and the Inhotim art park. Mercado Novo in Belo Horizonte bustled on a Friday night with young crowds, fairy lights, craft beer, caipirinhas, and small storefronts displaying ceramics, clothing, and accessories from emerging designers. Cozinha Tupís, cofounded by Rafael Quick in 2018, sources ingredients from the market's vendors and serves dishes such as cheese and corn fritters and cow tongue under a pavé of green tomatoes. Quick's restaurant helped revive a market that once closed at night; within a year, 100 new businesses had sprung up, turning Mercado Novo into an incubator for cooks, brewers, artists, and designers and contributing to Belo Horizonte's reputation as a vibrant creative hub.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
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