This popular botequim, a small bar that serves traditional snacks and dishes, is not located in the sceniest part of Lapa, but in a quieter neighborhood, Bairro de Fátima, just a five-minute walk from where everything’s happening. Kitschy and a little too brightly lit, Dom Cavalcanti is open almost every day until three in the morning, which makes it an excellent last stop at the end of a night out before heading off to bed. And if it’s been a particularly memorable night out, some canja is most definitely in order.

The second-richest man in the world. A five-foot-two, billboard-topping, belly-dancing bilingual pop singer. A right-wing São Paulo governor, mayor and congressman wanted in the U.S. on charges of money laundering of the multimillion-dollar order. Three presidents of Ecuador and one of Colombia. Together they speak to a hemispheric truism: In Latin America, Lebanese immigrants and their descendants are a force to be reckoned with.

It’s hard to find a “backstreet” in Ipanema, Rio’s pricey, posh epicenter of tourism, where real estate is prime and snack bars charge twice the price of grubbier places elsewhere. But leave it to three Frenchmen to open a wine bar that sincerely strives to be – and succeeds in being – a Brazilian boteco in the city’s most iconic beachside neighborhood. The bubbly trio Vava, Laulau and Gerard saw in an old construction supply store near the Ipanema metro stop an opportunity to create an upscale bar with the charm (and, believe it or not, the prices) of a Rio neighborhood eatery.