'We tried the MasterChef star's restaurant hidden in the basement of a sports bar'

It somehow manages to be the perfect love letter to both Manchester and Brazil

A new chef’s kitchen hidden in the basement of a Northern Quarter sports bar aims to bring the home comforts of Brazil to the city centre.

Helmed by chef and former Brazilian MasterChef contestant Caroline Martins, SAMPA is an exclusive dining set-up which aims to make you feel like you have stepped off the street into her kitchen and been invited to try out her favourite dishes. And passing through football fans as they watch the latest match on the big screen upstairs and transported into the basement dwellings, it works right away.

Ahead of its full opening, the Manchester Evening News was invited to preview the former Le Cordon Bleu London graduate’s offering - which shines a spotlight on everything from local bar snacks and Brazilian coffee to sweet duck and vanilla vodka-infused clementine.

Named after the nickname of Caroline’s San Paulo hometown, the twelve-course tasting menu showcases both locally-sourced ingredients, like Manchester smoked salmon and Salford honey, with traditional Brazilian delights including queijo coalho cheese and Dedo de Moca chilli.

Together, they bring together a perfect synergy between Caroline’s home city and Manchester - where she has found herself nominated in recent years for multiple prestigious awards, including most-recently Pop-up of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards.

Having also made a name for herself with her RIO-MEX taco truck, which was previously homed at Kampus in the city centre, Caroline has since solidified herself into the city’s thriving food scene. SAMPA, now three years to its name, started life as a pop-up residency in Ancoats.

But now it forms a new identity as a chef’s table restaurant in the basement of Northern Quarter sports bar Calcio!, located on Dale Street. There is no dress code - come as you are, leave pretences at the door and enjoy good food and the stories behind each dish.

With Caroline taking pride and place in the kitchen with her team, she tells me and my companion about the inspiration for each dish with even the very minute details all thoroughly thought out. The starting accompaniment of polvilho - crispy puffs made from cassava starch - are a traditional bar snack in Brazil, Caroline explains, and gets the ball rolling in this real labour of love.

The Brazil-meets-Manchester menu itself starts off with beautifully-presented canapes - including venison tarte and chilli and smoked quail eggs with biquinho peppers - served in their own little moss-grounded greenhouse that opens up to unveil a satisfying and smoky charcoal aroma. It’s a thing of beauty that gets a very audible ‘wow’ from me and my friend.

Following the canapes, one of the early highlights comes in the form of the uber-comforting sopa de fuba with coalho cheese. Whilst Caroline describes it as a traditional Brazilian soup, it’s got more of a consistency of a buttery mash and just harks back to homecooked meals on a cold winter day. The addition of prickly pear, alongside the chewy, halloumi-esque cheese, only helps further excel things.

For those craving a bit of seafood, there’s also the likes of Devon crab and Orkney scallop on the usual menu - but Caroline stresses that the menu will change from time to time, based on inspirations and ingredients throughout the year, so don’t hold any expectations for any set dish to her.

We also get to enjoy poussin in a stroganoff sauce that, in my opinion, far exceeds its traditional mid-19th-century Russian roots. “It’s a Brazilian stroganoff but done in a very funny way,” Caroline giggles as she explains how her variation is made with the likes of Brazil nuts, potato chips, ketchup and mustard (among other secret things).

Keeping with its Brazilian roots, Caroline has no problem admitting a lot of the menu features a big focus on two traditional ingredients - cream, corn and the root vegetable cassava. “In Brazil, we use more cassava than potatoes,” she explains.

There’s the devilishly moorish (and one for when you’re not counting the cholesterol) pao de queijo cheese breads alongside sweetcorn butter as well as a bone barrow and corn-nut butter served on a bed of corn kernels. It’s impressive, it’s rich, it’s decadent and it’s a highlight.

Towards the end of the menu, we get a beautiful selection of British cheeses, like Stilton and Garstang, mixed with Manchester honey from Dan and the Bees where, as me and my friend were happy to discover, you can scan a QR code to find out exactly where it was sourced from.

A stunning chocolate mushroom, featuring Dormouse chocolate and guava, was the finale of the meal. An actual art piece, it is almost too beautiful to eat - but we soon whack our spoons in for a crunch and to savour the rich and sweet blends of vanilla, cocoa, and guava tang.

It cannot be underestimated how clear Caroline’s passion is for what she has come up with. She is buzzing with a giddy excitement as she runs through each course, happy to stop in-between frying or preparing, to answer our questions about her inspirations from Brazil.

She is doing something clearly very special in the city that it makes clear sense that she has been award nominated already despite not having truly unveiled the extent of SAMPA on the world just quite yet.

And, whilst there are a whopping twelve courses to make it through, that thought and attention-to-detail never lets slip once throughout the whole evening.

With a playlist seamlessly flipping between Manchester and Brazilian sounds (it was passed around for contributions from friends and family during one of her most recent visits to Brazil), it aligns the two cultures and cities so perfectly well together - despite a 5,943-mile difference.

Speaking about the concept, Caroline says: “My team and I have come a long way since the first residency, and I'm incredibly proud that we've evolved from a Mancunian pop-up to an underground chef's table restaurant.

“It is a deeply personal project, blending the rich culinary traditions of my hometown, São Paulo, with incredible local ingredients and suppliers. Manchester’s dynamic food scene and its love for independent, creative ventures inspires me everyday.”

I’m excited for more people to give SAMPA a go and to learn more about Caroline’s deep love for both very good food, her hometown and her now city of residence. The tasting menu is priced at £58pp, with the choice to add vegan or gluten-free intolerances, whilst you can also add drinks pairings from £25pp.

More information and booking details for SAMPA can be found here. 24 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 1FY.