and a giant fig tree in the middle

(Ooh how nice, 'fig tree' looks like 'f-ing tree' in the title of this post. Both apply.)

So then we went to Figueira Rabaiyat, a São Paulo restaurant famous for having a gigantic fig tree in the middle of the dining room. the tree is mad beautiful and mad old. They built the restaurant around it so it could live on through the gentrification of its neighborhood. (I think.) So that’s pretty rad. I wish they could also do that with people who are fixtures in neighborhoods. Instead of pricing them out of their homes, build beautiful restaurants around them and make them the themes of these restaurants. Hm, maybe with people it would be degrading. But with trees it’s romantic.

We all admitted to feeling apprehensive that there would be another pirate type vibe. Like that as another famous restaurant they would feel they had to live up to their reputation and go over the top trying to make their service unforgettable. And piratey. (Mayhap by threatening with body language and 100 free refills to rob and pillage and stuff.)

But it was remarkably low key. No swarming service folk, no befuddling bells and whistles. We even discussed how it wasn’t even a bloggable experience, cause like, nothing absurd happened.

Then a busboy came over and restrained my purse to the chair with a plastic zipcuff. 

Aaaand we’re bloggable. 

We laughed quite a bunch at how weird this was. I know chicks spend a lot of money on their purses, but wouldn’t you think that’d make them (purses) more durable than to perish if they fell on the floor? 

Or were they perhaps worried that a thief might grab my purse and make a mega-awkward run for it through the labyrinthine mess of tables, in the middle of which stood a ginormous tree? 

Whether theft or purse-soilage, the concern reminded us that we were once again in classy-people territory with classy-people eccentricities. And that alone was funny.

Full disclosure: much as like like to make fun of rich people, their food is fucking delicious. Go to Figueira Rabaiyat if you ever get a chance. So so delicious. 

And when we paid the check the dude came back over and released my purse by cutting the zip-cuff with a knife.