Tucked away on a nondescript block of Rua Bela Cintra in Jardim Paulista, between a boisterous boteco and a graphic design company, sits Blue Velvet, a suggestive bit of azure indulgence that wraps around you like a jewel box. Inspired by the David Lynch film of the same name, the deep tones and soft shadows of the place draw you into its flirty abyss, where accents of red and gold fight in vain to disrupt the blue coolness, which seems to seep even into your cocktail glass.

Slip through the blue velvet curtains cascading down walls graced by French nudes and modernist blocks of colour. Pick one of the candle-lit obsidian tables for two or a 1960s pop-art arrangement for four with brash but comfy moulded chairs in red and gold, and check out the procession heading through the velvet curtains and on into the bar.

Don't leave without clocking the very petite dancefloor at the back – possibly the smallest dancefloor in town; or just take a seat on the dark leather sofas near the bar, and watch yourself and your company in repose in the gilt-edged mirrors as you sip on a Long Island Iced Tea, a caipisake or an Isabella Rossellini – sparkling wine, melon liqueur and fizzy lemonade. The servers are swift and a few even speak English, since the crowd (younger on Saturdays) tends to be a solid mix of youthful business travellers, glossy socialites and T-shirt-wearing hipsters, all sipping the same sapphire-stained spirits. The perfect spot for a little blue business talk.