Chef Renata Vanzetto grew up in Ilhabela, so it only made sense that once she’d perfected her own tropical Brazilian take on Thai cuisine, she would return home to open the first of several Marakuthai restaurants (the others are in São Paulo city). In an unrivaled candlelit setting on the sand overlooking Ilhabela’s yacht-filled waters, this ideal culinary marriage comes together fabulously in dishes like jasmine-rice risotto with seafood and slow-cooked octopus with pimenta biquinho (a hot pepper) vinaigrette.
