Editor's note: As Rio gears up for the 2016 Summer Olympics, CB has been exploring the backstreets of the city's Olympic Zones in search of gold-medal eateries. This is the first dispatch in the series. Barra da Tijuca was meant to be the best of Rio without its worst. Sandy beaches with no pickpockets. Top-notch shopping with no annoying squawking vendors. Playgrounds with no worrisome outsiders – because those playgrounds are inside gated condominiums with guards who sometimes have pistols tucked into their belts. The Avenida das Américas is 14 lanes wide, enough space for everyone to have their own car and leave the bus lanes to the white-uniformed maids and servicemen and women who bustle into Barra each day.

A tiny pasta and wine shop inside Rio’s Mercado São José, where chef Ellen Gonzalez serves fresh handmade pasta, Asian-inspired noodles, seasonal ingredients, and Brazilian natural wine.

A guide to Rio de Janeiro’s reopened Mercado São José, where young food businesses, neighborhood residents, and independent restaurateurs have transformed a historic Laranjeiras market into one of the city’s most exciting dining hubs.