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It might take the promise of a caipirinha, sweetened with agave nectar and loaded with lime wedges, to lure one to the dodgy intersection of Eighth and Minna streets, but Bossa Nova, the latest project from Jocelyn Bulow’s Maktub Group, has more to offer than that. The understated façade conceals a bustling hideaway, blaring with Latin beats, that feels transported straight from the streets of Rio. In order to remain upright, you’ll need to pair your cocktails with something from the Brazilian menu, largely made up of small plates. Skewers of lamb tenderloin or pork sausage come with three sauces: mango salsa, chimichurri and a creamy, avocado-based salsa verde. Kampachi tiradito (a Peruvian ceviche-like preparation where the raw fish is cut into ribbons rather than cubes), halibut ceviche and tuna tartare with ginger, avocado and radish pique the appetite, but the runaway hit is the moqueca: a cast-iron pot full of prawns, mussels and chunks of halibut, set into a thick sauce of coconut milk flavored with sofrito, the ubiquitous Spanish combination of onion, garlic and sweet peppers. Add a side of coconut rice and, say, one more cocktail, and you’re primed to samba the night away.
Bossa Nova 139 Eighth St., 415-558-8004
It might take the promise of a caipirinha, sweetened with agave nectar and loaded with lime wedges, to lure one to the dodgy intersection of Eighth and Minna streets, but Bossa Nova, the latest project from Jocelyn Bulow’s Maktub Group, has more to offer than that. The understated façade conceals a bustling hideaway, blaring with Latin beats, that feels transported straight from the streets of Rio. In order to remain upright, you’ll need to pair your cocktails with something from the Brazilian menu, largely made up of small plates. Skewers of lamb tenderloin or pork sausage come with three sauces: mango salsa, chimichurri and a creamy, avocado-based salsa verde. Kampachi tiradito (a Peruvian ceviche-like preparation where the raw fish is cut into ribbons rather than cubes), halibut ceviche and tuna tartare with ginger, avocado and radish pique the appetite, but the runaway hit is the moqueca: a cast-iron pot full of prawns, mussels and chunks of halibut, set into a thick sauce of coconut milk flavored with sofrito, the ubiquitous Spanish combination of onion, garlic and sweet peppers. Add a side of coconut rice and, say, one more cocktail, and you’re primed to samba the night away.
Bossa Nova 139 Eighth St., 415-558-8004
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