Felipe Bronze: “I’m going to bring revisited Brazilian traditions to Gastronomika”
With chef Felipe Bronze, all that glitters is gold. Although he was destined to be an economist and a lawyer, his passion for cooking and the advice of Claude Troisgros led him to study hospitality, manage hotel kitchens until he was bored, go to Spain —“In San Sebastián and Barcelona, with Albert Adrià, I was enlightened by freedom”— and, finally, open Oro in Rio de Janeiro. Today he is a dazzl
“I’m more than just a chef,” he tells me right away. “I like many things, from design—I created the restaurant and the grills myself—to television, where, in addition to having fun, I’ve expanded my creativity.”
Felipe Bronze, who considers himself an entertainer (“what gratifies me is bringing joy and happiness to people”), was on track to become an economist and a lawyer, even though, from a young age, he enjoyed trying new things. At 13, he took a cooking course as a hobby, and at university, he continued cooking for his friends, frequenting restaurants, and attending culinary conferences. “At one of them, Claude Troisgros advised me to enroll at the CIA in New York, where I started winning every competition I entered. I worked as an executive chef in a lot of hotels, but it was my time in Norway, at a restaurant called Oro, that changed my perspective, and that's how I opened Z, my first restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, which was a resounding success.” San Sebastián, the Basque Country, and Barcelona were, in a second act, the final push. “Etxebarri and Albert Adrià dazzled me, I learned there that everything was possible, I learned amazing techniques and I fell seduced by Bittor's embers, which are the heart of Oro, because in my restaurant everything is grilled or cooked in a Josper oven.”
It was in 2010 that Oro opened. “Oro was the first restaurant in Brazil to offer only a tasting menu, and the awards kept pouring in. I positioned myself at the forefront, and in 2015, I bought out my partner's share, moved to Leblon, and began working, now much more focused on Brazil, on what I consider most important: the team and the culture of excellence.” With the change of location came exclusivity in the cooking methods, everything grilled, with Arginzoniz in mind. With this approach, he became the first chef in Rio de Janeiro to earn two Michelin stars.
“I’m an open-minded and cosmopolitan Brazilian, fascinated by Brazil, Japan, Spain… I cook what I experience; I want to give each dish a multitude of sensations, and technique, for me, is just a tool. At Oro, there are no shows.” Bronze describes himself as “a natural chef” and insists that “starting from Brazil, I look at things, at what’s close to me, in my own way, always with my team by my side, and I evolve them from a cosmopolitan perspective. I don’t do Amazonian cuisine,” he concludes.
Felipe does aspire to the third star, but he finds building teams and generating ideas more rewarding. “I have several restaurants in Rio de Janeiro and also in São Paulo, I work on three cooking television programs, and I have plans to open more establishments. I'm creating a collaborative culinary ecosystem, a lifestyle (more than a business), with different chefs. In October, I plan to open two more locations, one with a Korean chef and creative pizza maker, and another with an Italian chef. And delivery with one of my other cooks… My goal is to have about 30 restaurants in collaboration with young, creative chefs.”
Bronze, who is very excited to return to San Sebastian, will bring to San Sebastian Gastronomika “a journey through Oro's cuisine, through revisited Brazilian traditions, through all my influences… I am going to bring my Brazil.”
