Description
Brazil is known to be the land of barbequed meats and pig ‘n bean stew so can be tough to find a decent natural food restaurant. Fontes is a cute, pocket-sized place, tucked away in one of the many off-street shopping halls of Ipanema, where locals have been enjoying tasty, healthy meals for over 19 years. Place your order at the counter from a list of well-prepared salads (around R$5), rice dishes (around R$4), soups and main dishes (around R$9) for lunch and dinner. Chicken and fish dishes are served but there are many vegetarian options as well, some of which include faux meat (soy) which all are tasty and appealing. Fontes is a good place to make friends since strangers share tables when it fills up. The desserts (R$4) are really a treat – they’re made with fructose and, unlike your average Brazilian dessert, are not overly sweet and the gelatin is seaweed-based. Try the shitake bobó, chicken with apple and curry or the manioc gnocchi with pumpkin.

Insider Tips
Fontes also allows vegetarians the chance to participate in the Carioca feijoada tradition with a vegetarian feijoada (R$14) served on Saturdays. This flavorful meatless version features butter beans, smoked tofu, pumpkin and veggie sausage and even comes with all the typical fixings like kale, oranges and farofa.

	Information:
	Location Details Visconde de Pirajá, 605 (next to the Estação Ipanema movie theatre) Ipanema http://www.fontesipanema.com.br (you can even see the menu, albeit in Portuguese, on the site) Open Monday-Saturday from 11am to 10pm and Sundays from 11am to 8pm.