Updated on June 8, 2009
Restaurante do Quilombo, less than 10 miles from Paraty, is located at Comunidade Quilombola Campinho da Independência, a community originated in the late 19th century by three women, former slaves, on land donated by the owner of the Independência farm.
At the restaurant, you'll find regional dishes made on a wood stove: azul marinho, feijoada, chicken, fried bananas, and desserts - jackfruit, papaya and banana sweets, coconut flour (Indaiá coconut and cassava ground in a mortar). You can also drink Paraty cachaça.
The quilombo is nestled in the lush hills of the Paraty range.
Opened in late 2007 with the support of the Brazilian Ministry of Social Development in a partnership with private and public organizations, the restaurant is one of several initiatives in a project which aims to foster social inclusion and sustainable development in Brazil's quilombos.
The Campinho residents' association (Amoc) manages the restaurant. About 25 women from the community are in charge of cooking - using ingredients grown by local farmers. While you enjoy the food, feel even better knowing that an estimated 450 people benefit directly and indirectly from the restaurant.
Daily 12:30p-4:30p
Call ahead to confirm if the restaurant is open; Restaurante do Quilombo is attuned with eventualities in the community's life.
Comunidade Quilombola Campinho da Independência
Highway BR 101 (Rio-Santos),km 584
Paraty - RJ
Phone: 24-3371-4866 (call ahead)
E-mail: info@quilombocampinho.org
June 8, 2009 Update: The Comunidade Quilombola Campinho da Independência website is undergoing a complete makeover. I just talked with Vagner do Nascimento, the president of Amoc, and confirmed that the restaurant and the quilombo are open - and busy! Last weekend, the quilombo received a group of over 100 people for a tour.
Coming from Rio de Janeiro on Rio-Santos (the stretch between Rio de Janeiro and Santos of BR-101, pass the roundabout to Paraty and take the exit to the quilombo 13 kilometers later).
From São Paulo, the Quilombo is 67 kilometers (about 41 miles) past Ubatuba and three kilometers past the exit to Trindade.
