Having spent a great share of my weekends in the countryside village of São Franciso Xavier, I got almost embarrassed when I came across recommendations of the family-run restaurant @asoberanacozinhacaipira that I did not know at the time.

The place, led by Eduardo and his wife Juliana, is located in the backyard of their own house. Service is friendly and more importantly, personal. Everything there is authentic and their hospitality makes you feel at home. The wooden benches, the carefully thought decoration and the dog resting on the side completes the atmosphere.

Eduardo can always be found behind the wood-burning stove and is one question away from telling you all about his passion for cooking on fire, the cultural heritage of the recipes he’s preparing and how he decided to give up on his previous corporate job to follow his heart.

Much like Eduardo, his food also speaks for itself. His cuisine is a celebration of rural traditions and you can almost feel the flavors telling their own story. The dishes are comforting, but not strong on spices. They do offer, however, a homemade chili sauce on the side.

The place does not have a menu and the food prepared is the same for all guests. For starters, we had a mix of salami, “torresmo” (fried little bites of pork belly) and “goiabada” (a sweet conserve made from red guavas and sugar).

The main course consisted of “carne na lata”, an ancestral technique for cooking pork in its own fat, with rice, red beans, farofa (the triad of Brazilian food), “polenta” (a dish made from cornmeal) and some sauteed vegetables on the side. Plus a few homemade chorizo sausages that were packed with flavor after being smoked above the stove for the perfect amount of time.

I left my table genuinely happy, feeling the rush that good food causes on me. But having lunch at A Soberana is not only about food in itself, but also a powerful reminder of the beauty behind the truth of the rural lifestyle.

The combination of a special restaurant run by good people, in a little town, where fresh air, peace and quiet reign makes you reflect on life and gives a sense of appreciation and an opportunity to really put things in perspective.