Azur

Despite Rio’s 12 miles of urban beachfront and some 300 snack shacks along the shoreline promenade, the idea of something gastronomically distinguished next to the sand just never came up. That is, till last year, when two such places emerged in Leblon: Riba and then Azur, chef Pedro de Artagão’s surfside outpost. The latter’s idea of good eating—previously sampled in renowned dining rooms Formidable and Irajá—is here adapted to the local, in the form of his famed rice with codfish and moqueca (a fish stew), for instance, or the octopus. There’s also a top-notch bar for caipifrutas and crisp gin and tonics.