Black Gastronomy Prize, whose first edition was held in November, honours the best black restaurant industry people in Rio in an array of categories such as waiter, sommelier, sous chef and pastry chef, all in a country where racism is deeply ingrained
From a tiny restaurant on a dead-end street come the enticing aromas of chicken, pork and shrimp as an award-winning chef slowly steams dim sum -- the finger food typical of Cantonese cuisine.
This is not Hong Kong but rather Rio de Janeiro. And the cook is a black Brazilian.
"Many people ask me, 'Where is the Chinese chef?'" Vladimir Reis, 38, says with a chuckle. He opened Dim Sum Rio almost two years ago in Laranjeiras, a wealthy neighborhood of the city.