If São Paulo has a definitive see-and-be-seen restaurant, it’s Spot, one of the city’s hands-down classic restaurants. It’s centrally located – a handy place for lunch if you’re on Avenida Paulista – and decorated brightly and stylishly, if simply, with all-round windows and a circular bar in the middle. The restaurant opened in 1994 and has been busy ever since. Consequently, and much like its clientele – models, artists, the conspicuously successful, the odd celebrity – it has never lacked confidence.

Spot is an enduring Sampa favourite – so come prepared to wait, over a drink at the bar or outside on the terrace, for a table in the thick of the action, in amongst the chattering diners. On our last visit, the mignon de porco (pork tenderloin) with mini onions, red pepper and mini tomatoes was tangy, crispy and gloriously meaty, though it came sadly unaccompanied – follow our lead and order some of the delicious roasted vegetables and smooth, creamy mash as a side dish.