Alex Atala & Dani Branca
That is the idea behind Cross-Contamination Dinners — a series of intimate culinary collaborations by The Best Chef × The Best Pizza, bringing together chefs from two different disciplines to create something neither could make alone.
On August 13, 2026, the concept arrived in São Paulo, where Alex Atala and Dani Branca joined forces at Soffio Pizzeria for an evening that brought together Brazilian gastronomy, Italian pizza culture and the creative energy of two very different culinary perspectives.
It was more than a four-hands dinner. It was a demonstration of what can happen when culinary boundaries become an invitation rather than a limitation.
Alex Atala, a Three-Knife Chef from The Best Chef, has spent decades redefining Brazilian cuisine through indigenous ingredients, local traditions and contemporary techniques. His approach is deeply rooted in Brazil while constantly looking towards new possibilities.
Dani Branca, a ranked Pizza Chef from The Best Pizza, brings a different perspective. Born near Naples and now one of the influential figures in São Paulo’s pizza scene, he has become an important voice in Brazilian pizza culture, combining Italian tradition with a strong focus on education and the development of the local scene.
Put them in the same kitchen, and the interesting part begins.
Rather than creating two separate menus, the dinner became a conversation between culinary identities – between ingredients, techniques, traditions and ideas.
The menu was designed as a dialogue, moving from Brazilian ingredients and Italian traditions to pizza as a space for experimentation.
The evening opened with two starters.
Dani Branca’s Carciofi Croccanti featured a breaded Maestra per La Pastina artichoke served with Sicilian lemon mayonnaise, parsley and caprino romano.
Alex Atala’s Baccalà e Fagioli transformed salt cod into a delicate brandade paired with black beans, bringing a distinctly Brazilian touch to a classic combination.
Then came the pizzas – and this was where the collaboration truly came into its own.
Atala presented Bottarga Alho e Óleo, followed by Gambero, combining tomato, stracciatella and shrimp. His creations brought the ingredients and sensibility of his cuisine into the world of pizza, showing how a familiar format can become a new canvas for another culinary language.
Branca took the menu in another direction with Funghetto Affumicato, built around mushroom cream, fiordilatte, sautéed porcini and smoked provola fondue.
His Quasi Un’Amatriciana played with a familiar Roman reference, combining roasted datterino tomatoes, fiordilatte, guanciale, confit onion and Brazilian Tulha cheese.
The final course returned to Atala, who closed the dinner with a dessert of strawberry, meringue, Chantilly, basil and extra virgin olive oil – a light and fresh composition bringing together sweetness, acidity, herbs and fat.
Throughout the evening, wines from Spain, Chile, France and Italy accompanied the menu, adding yet another layer to the dialogue between cultures.
The most interesting part of Cross-Contamination is not simply seeing two celebrated chefs cook together. It is seeing what changes when they do.
A chef accustomed to fine-dining techniques approaches pizza differently. A pizza chef brings a different understanding of dough, heat, simplicity and repetition to the table. Ingredients acquire new roles. Familiar dishes become starting points rather than rules.
That exchange was visible throughout the São Paulo dinner. The result was not a menu divided between “fine dining” and “pizza”. It was a menu where the two languages continuously influenced one another.
Cross-Contamination Dinners are intentionally intimate. The format is built around proximity – chefs working side by side, guests experiencing the process up close, and ideas moving freely between the kitchen and the table.
São Paulo showed why these collaborations matter. Cross-Contamination is not about deciding which culinary world is better. It is about creating an environment where different disciplines can challenge, inspire and influence each other.
It is about taking chefs out of their usual context.
It is about giving traditions room to evolve.
And it is about creating experiences that could not exist without the collaboration itself.
Instagram: @alexatala @d.o.m.restaurante
Restaurant website: domrestaurante.com.br
Restaurant Address: Rua Barão de Capanema 549, São Paulo, 01411-011, Brasil
Instagram: @dani_branca @soffiopizzeria
Restaurant website: https://www.soffiopizzeria.com.br/
Restaurant Address: R. João de Sousa Dias, 281 – Campo Belo, São Paulo – SP, 04618-001, Brasil
Alex Atala, born in São Bernardo do Campo in 1968, is one of South America’s most influential chefs and a pioneer of modern Brazilian cuisine.
Born in Salerno, Italy, near Naples—the birthplace of pizza—Dani Branca is a celebrated pizza chef who has made a remarkable mark on São Paulo’s culinary landscape.
