The Slow Bakery

The Slow Bakery is a sourdough bakery and café in Botafogo that has become one of the best-known names in Rio's bread scene. In 2026 it won the award for the city's best bread in Veja Rio's Comer e Beber guide.

Its story began with a setback. According to a 2019 report in Metrópoles, the founders, Rafa Brito Pereira from Rio and Ludmila Espíndola from Brasília, saw their previous business, a content agency, fail in early 2014. Ludmila took on freelance audiovisual work to pay for Rafa's bakery training, and the couple began baking in the office of their old company. Production started at 80 to 100 kilos of bread a month and grew to around five tonnes a month within five years, with every loaf still shaped by hand.

The founders' principle is that the bread is naturally and slowly fermented, a concept they say they have never abandoned. Beyond loaves, the bakery has become known for focaccias and a reinterpretation of the joelho, a classic Rio snack, made with brioche, ham, cheese and béchamel. A 2021 CNN Brasil guide to breakfast described the café menu, with sourdough variations made with olive oil, olives or parmesan, sandwiches such as a croque madame, a misto quente and the Bonzaço with shredded beef rib, barbecue sauce and Polish-style cucumber salad, along with cookies, croissants, tartines, cakes, yoghurt and coffee ground to order.

The same guide placed the bakery-café at Rua General Polidoro 25 in Botafogo, with a smaller Ipanema outlet known as Slowzinha on Rua Barão da Torre, and gave the phone number +55 21 3563-8638. The bakery's own website could not be checked for this listing, so confirm current opening hours and locations before going.

The Slow Bakery suits anyone who cares about good bread, from visitors wanting a relaxed breakfast to those picking up a loaf for a picnic. The sandwiches also make it a good option for a light lunch.

Botafogo is home to Oteque on Rua Conde de Irajá and to the Botafogo branch of Ferro e Farinha, also in this guide, so a morning at the bakery can lead into a day of eating in the same neighbourhood.