The centrepiece of Figueira Rubaiyat is not the picanha, though it is extraordinary. It is not the wine list, though it is one of the finest in São Paulo. The centrepiece is a tree — a Bengal fig, Ficus benghalensis, more than a century old, whose aerial roots have descended into the earth and whose canopy now extends across the entire glass-roofed dining room. Dining here is dining within an organism that predates the restaurant, the building, and most of its clientele.
The Rubaiyat group has operated in São Paulo since 1957, building a reputation as the city's pre-eminent steakhouse through an uncompromising commitment to vertical integration: the beef arrives from the group's own farm, raised on a specific diet, selected by the kitchen team, and aged in-house. The result is a consistency that no supply-chain-dependent competitor can match.
The menu at Figueira — distinguishable from the group's original Rubaiyat location on Alameda Santos — centres on the glass-roofed garden room and offers the full range of noble cuts: filet mignon, picanha, ribeye, the Denver steak. But it is the tirita de picanha — thin-sliced, served atop wood embers — that most regulars return for. The side dishes are a serious supporting act: the roasted bone marrow, the truffle farofa, the palm heart salad, are not afterthoughts.
The wine list extends to over five hundred labels, with particular depth in Argentinian Malbec and Portuguese Alentejo. Service is experienced and confident without becoming stiff. The private dining rooms, accommodating between eight and forty guests, are São Paulo's standard for confidential business events.