This Toronto Brazilian eatery serving up pastels gives you a reason to savour quick bites

That countrywide soft spot for the two is how Paulo Canabrava chose the name and menu star for Samba Brazil Eatery at 1646 St. Clair Ave. W. Here, Torontonians can enjoy a variety of sweet and savoury pastels among other Brazilian snacks.

“In Brazil, (pastels) are very popular. We have 200 million people and everybody knows what is a pastel. In Canada, I’m teaching people how to eat pastels,” said Canabrava.

The street food is made of cassava flour dough that’s rolled out and filled with anything from pulled pork to caramelized milk to heart of palm and Brazilian cream cheese. The dough is then cut into rectangular-shaped thin-crust pies and deep-fried until it’s golden and crispy.

Despite the hand-held portability, pastels are meant to be savoured. While North Americans tend to eat on the fly when times get busy, in Brazilian culture, Canabrava explains, lunch is a dedicated time to sit and thoroughly enjoy your meal.

“We don’t eat pastel in a rush. (People here say) ‘I have to eat something because I have to work or I have to go talk to my accountant.’ No, you stay and you have your pastel. Take your time and respect your body,” he said.

Other popular bites that Samba offers include coxinha (a croquette filled with a mixture of chicken, broth and Brazilian cream cheese), chocolate carrot cake and brigadeiro (a bite-sized dessert made with condensed milk, butter and cocoa).

Eating inside feels as if Canabrava has invited you in personally to dine at his family’s kitchen table. Samba’s St. Clair location evokes a street stall feeling to match its menu items — it’s small but cosy, with a service counter, a couple of tables and stools by the window and shelves overhead filled with mementos: a Brazilian license plate, a can of an Amazonian fruit-flavoured soda, Guaraná Antarctica, and a painted plate with the map vector of Brazil.

A special part of street food in Brazil — and countries around the world — is how it is an accessible and low-barrier way to try traditional foods, and meet the people who make them. Street food vendors can be found in every corner of a city, embedded in the bustle. Stopping by to grab street food, watching it be prepared in front of you and chatting with the vendor is an experiential way to take in everyday culture, Canabrava said.

“It’s the environment of the people, of the culture … In the street … you go and buy real food,” he said.

Canabrava, who previously worked restaurant gigs in Brazil — including cooking at a Brazilian steak house in Curitiba — moved from South Brazil to Toronto six years ago with his wife and three children.

But the move to come to Canada was not a snap decision. Three years before deciding to come to Canada, Canabrava was in a life-threatening parachute accident, which resulted in him losing half of one leg.

While he considers himself fortunate that the accident didn’t impact his life more severely, it did make him and his wife reflect about what more they could offer their kids.

“We (chose) Canada because … I knew that Canadians are open to new cultures, which could help my kids to feel comfortable here. And since the first week, my wife and my kids love Canada,” he said.

When he arrived, Canabrava started off working for big chain restaurants before he heard his current location in St. Clair West was available to rent.

After making a case to the owners on his restaurant vision, he took the leap and has been running Samba for the last five years. During that time, he also opened a second location in the World Food Market near Yonge and Dundas Square and Toronto Metropolitan University.

Canabrava’s family also plays a role behind the scenes, from his wife aiding with accounting and social media, to his 13-year-old son Rafael making videos to help educate their Instagram audience on Brazilian street food.

On what makes Samba Brazil Eatery special, Canabrava emphasizes how each item on the menu — many of which are traditional family recipes — are made in house, from their homemade spice blends that season the beef to their carrot cake to their hot sauce.

Canabrava said there have been many instances where customers have returned to the restaurant or reached out after visiting, to share how the food provided them a sense of familiarity and comfort of home.

Once, a customer who ordered via UberEats called his restaurant’s line to tell him the flavours of his meal prompted memories of eating the exact same dishes with his family as a kid growing up in Brazil.

“It’s a family memory. It’s one of those memories (that) is so strong. It’s a memory of the flavours you have when you are a kid. In some ways, people come here to feel like when they did a long time ago as a kid,” he said.

Read more of #StarEats here.