Our best eating experiences of the year include dishes at botequins old and new, as well as unexpected finds elsewhere in the city. Ajota Bar’s rooster One of the most delicious discoveries I made in Rio this year was the rooster from Ajota Bar, a very humble botequim – or traditional family-run bar – in Vila Isabel, a working-class neighborhood in Rio's North Zone. Chickens and galetos (three-month-old chickens) are very common in botequins, but not roosters, as they’re hard to cook well. Only a few bars have the guts to serve it, and of those, Ajota’s is the best. The owner and chef, Mr. Francisco, buys the rooster on Friday and brines it with spices overnight.