Janaina Rueda

Coming Up

Holding the chef-owner role at Bar da Dona Onça since 2008 gave Janaina Rueda a long runway to shape a room, a menu, and a point of view in Centro de São Paulo. That same approach extends through A Casa do Porco in São Paulo, where the scale of the work is different but the logic stays consistent. Across both addresses, Janaina Rueda has built a career on continuity rather than novelty: one kitchen experience grounded in conviction, another shaped by the same clarity of purpose.

Where They Are Now

Feijoada remains the dish most closely tied to Janaina Rueda’s name, and she frames that association as something to claim rather than correct. “Everyone says feijoada is my signature dish and I’m so proud of that.” In her own words, the dish carries more than flavor; it carries cultural weight. “We shouldn’t be ashamed of feijoada. It’s ours; it is Brazilian; it is wonderful,” she has said, putting the focus on ownership, memory, and the right to speak for a dish that belongs to the table as much as to the kitchen. That is where her work lands: not as nostalgia, but as a steady argument for Brazilian food on its own terms.

Signature

Janaina's signature dishes include feijoada. It is the dish most often associated with her name, and the one that best captures the balance of warmth, pride, and cultural insistence that runs through her cooking.

In Their Words “We shouldn’t be ashamed of feijoada. It’s ours; it is Brazilian; it is wonderful.”

Honors

Janaina's honors include Best Female Chef (2023) and American Express Icon Award. These recognitions track the reach of Janaina Rueda’s work beyond her own dining rooms, acknowledging a career defined by the consistency of the restaurants and the force of the position behind them.