Chef Vitor Mendes opens Iara, an Amazonian-Brazilian restaurant in New York

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Summary

Iara is a new Amazonian-Brazilian restaurant in New York from chef-owner Vitor Mendes, most recently chef de cuisine at Theodora in Fort Greene.
The menu spotlights Amazonian ingredients including cupuaçu, tucupi, jambu, cassava, puxuri, and tonka bean, and the grill burns charcoal.
Mendes, born in Brazil, returned there as an adult after his father's death and was struck by the Amazon Basin's abundance.
The restaurant is named for a half-woman, half-fish river spirit from the folklore of the Tupi and Guarani peoples.
A review published on November 15, 2026 highlighted the tacacá, the off-menu grilled tambaqi special, and desserts such as bolo de mandioca.

The review's author judged Iara's cooking thrillingly novel and strongest when most Brazilian, weaker when it concedes to New York trends.
The reviewer called Mendes an exuberant teacher whose passion for Amazonian ingredients has infected his staff, and praised the chef's counter seats.
The reviewer recommended ending a meal at Iara with the pudim, brigadeiros, or the bolo de mandioca with coconut-lime sorbet.
The reviewer called cassava the most vivid through line in Mendes's cooking and deemed a meal at Iara unlike other Brazilian food in New York.
The reviewer judged the cocktail list, created by Theodora alum Calvin Czypinski, the work of someone clearly having fun.

A Brazilian Restaurant Showcases the Ingredients of the Amazonnewyorker.com· 19m
Helen Rosner's Food Scene newsletter reviews Iara, a new Amazonian-Brazilian restaurant in New York from chef-owner Vitor Mendes, whose menu spotlights Amazonian ingredients like cupuaçu, tucupi, jambu, and cassava. She finds the cooking thrillingly novel and strongest when most Brazilian, singling out the tacacá, the tambaqi special, and desserts such as bolo de mandioca.