Acclaimed Brazilian chef Manu Buffara is taking over the kitchen at The Standard Grill this Thursday and Friday, bringing a feast-style menu built around shared plates, wood-fired wagyu, and a shrimp dog to the Meatpacking District spot for a two-day residency. Select dishes from the collaboration will stick around on the menu through the end of August, giving diners a longer window to catch the crossover between Curitiba and downtown Manhattan.
The pop-up, running Aug. 13-14 at 848 Washington St., pairs Buffara with Standard Grill head chef Frederick Aquino, according to amNewYork. Aquino, who has been with the restaurant since it opened as its founding master pastry chef in 2009 and became known for creating the multi-layered chocolate mousse cake known as “The Deal Closer,” framed the partnership as less about reshaping Buffara's cooking and more about giving her a proper platform in New York, per the same outlet. “The Standard Grill will continue building unique dining experiences with talented chefs from different backgrounds,” Aquino said, according to amNewYork.
Buffara is one of South American gastronomy's most decorated names. She studied journalism before training in kitchens at Noma in Copenhagen and Alinea in Chicago, a career pivot detailed by KTCHNrebel. In January 2011 she opened Restaurante Manu in Curitiba, Brazil — the country's first restaurant led by a woman to serve exclusively a tasting menu — a milestone that helped earn her the title of Latin America's Best Female Chef in 2022 from World's 50 Best Restaurants.
A Menu Meant to Feel Like a Party, Not a Tasting Menu
Buffara wants the New York experience to feel loose rather than formal. She said she wants guests to “relax, share food, eat with their hands, talk, laugh, and have a good time,” and that the experience should not feel overly formal or like traditional fine dining, per amNewYork's report. “Food should create connection,” she said, adding that she hopes diners will simply have fun at their tables and leave happy, satisfied, and with a memorable experience.
The pop-up menu carries what amNewYork describes as a strong Brazilian identity filtered through a New York lens, mixing familiar city flavors with Buffara's home-country perspective. Dishes include a New York City shrimp dog, chicken liver toast, raw fish with heart of palm and sea, corn and baby squid, and homemade pastrami. The meal builds toward a feast-style moment where dishes arrive at the table to be shared, anchored by a family-style spread of wood-fired wagyu and slow-cooked pork served with classic Brazilian accompaniments. Dessert options include blackberry and coriander, and bolo de bolacha with burnt chocolate.
Curitiba's Chef and Her Bigger Mission
Restaurante Manu operates with just five tables serving 20 guests a night with a plant-forward focus, and in December 2023 it won the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award from Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, which recognized a sourcing model where 80% of its ingredients come from within 300 kilometers, according to World's 50 Best Restaurants. Buffara's work extends well beyond her own dining room: the Institute of Culinary Education notes she has helped install 4,000 native beehives across Curitiba and converted 89 abandoned city lots into community gardens under local laws that allow vacant land to be repurposed for urban agriculture. In 2020 she founded the nonprofit Instituto Manu Buffara, which runs the annual Alimenta Curitiba project distributing food and providing health and education services to vulnerable communities, according to Fine Dining Lovers.
A Neighborhood Already Buzzing With Big Names
The Standard Grill has served as an anchor of the Meatpacking District's dining scene since opening under the High Line in June 2009, known for its New American steakhouse menu and copper-penny-tiled floors, per Time Out. The venue has hosted high-profile kitchen talent before; celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito served as its executive chef in 2020 before opening Bar Rocco near Rockefeller Center this past April.
Buffara's residency also lands amid a broader wave of culinary investment reshaping the neighborhood in 2026. Chef Daniel Boulud has announced plans to open a cafe and supper club inside Bilt's headquarters at 837 Washington Street, while London's exclusive Annabel's club is plotting a glam Hudson Street move. Buffara has also long planned a permanent New York venue of her own called Ella, a 60-seat, casual sharing-concept restaurant in the Meatpacking District designed by architect Isay Weinfeld, according to Fine Dining Lovers. Whether this two-day residency at The Standard Grill signals momentum toward that long-anticipated opening remains unclear.
