Bossa Nostra is a haven for the homesick and an eyeopener for those looking to widen their palate, according to owner Vera Dicolli.

“In Brighton there are people from all parts of Brazil, I need to do something for them,” she says. “People from Brazil, Mexico and Portugal come in and say they feel they’re at home here.” And the English? “They like it, too, but the English need to find Brazilian food.” We’ve already found Crepidina, the famous Brazilian cocktail which Dicolli makes with “cachaca, lime, sugar and lots of love”.

“We had three English people in who wanted to try Crepidina – they ended up having 13,” she says. The former Brazilian/Italian music teacher met her Italian partner Simon Gennaro in Eastbourne four years ago. Now partners in both senses, Gennaro taught her everything he knew about restaurants.

The pair ran Cafe Bohemia in Kemp Town for two years but wanted a restaurant where they could cook authentic Brazilian food. At Bossa Nostra the focus is on home-cooked Brazilian fare with the odd Italian dish. All their meat is Brazilian because there, “the cows just eat green things, so the taste is completely different,” she says.

Most dishes come with a veggie option and the menu includes the likes of prato feito – rice, Brazilian beans, spring greens, beef or chicken breast and roast veg, and moqueca verde e amarela – baked cod fillets with green and yellow peppers, palm oil, coconut milk and rice.

But Dicolli’s favourite is costela – grilled rib of beef on the bone with rice and brown beans. “You cook it for about six hours, slowly, slowly. It’s so soft the meat just falls apart,” she says.

Review by Xenia Gregoriadis