Episode 219: Manoella "Manu" Buffara (chef & author of Manu: Recipes and Stories from My Brazil)

Manoella Buffara, also known as "Manu," has owned and operated her own restaurant, the eponymous Manu, in  Curitiba, Brazil, for more than a decade. The restaurant offers an expression of her life and mind in a tasting menu format. This week, she published a book--Manu: Recipes and Stories from My Brazil--that, like the restaurant, is a summation of herself and her cuisine to this point in her journey. While in New York City to celebrate the book's launch, Manu sat down with Andrew at the offices of her publisher, Phaidon, to discuss her migration to professional cooking from an original path toward journalism, her formative time at Noma in Copenhagen, and the story behind her celebrated restaurant, among many other subjects.Andrew’s next book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food is now available for preorder! Please consider purchasing your copy/copies in advance and help the book have a great lift-off.Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related news. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!