Combine a hike in the Serra da Cantareira or an out-of-town shopping trip with lunch at the bountiful buffet tables of As Véia. Housed in one of the charming, ramshackle buildings which make up the shopping-cum-restaurant complex, O Velhão, the restaurant attracts fitness fans as well as shoppers, clogging up roads and overloading the car parks at the weekend.

Once there, a quick shuffle around the shops is in order and then do as the paulistanos do: browse the groaning buffet tables. There’s a passing nod at healthy options, but it’s the acres of naughty Brazilian classics – the crackling, pork scratchings, the ribs, and the slabs of beef and stews – that draw the punters, plus more variations in the rice and farofa department than on a theme from Haydn.

Load your plate high and, if the weather holds, take it out to the terrace with a caipirinha or beer and admire your newly-acquired collection of scented candles, swimwear and novelty flip-flops.

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