Brazilian restaurant iara bringing Amazon-inspired menu to Allen Street

Chef Vitor Mendes is opening a Brazilian restaurant inspired by the Amazon on the Lower East Side this fall ... when iara is set to debut at 205 Allen St. between Houston and Stanton. 

The 50-seat restaurant will be Mendes' first as an owner; he most recently served as chef de cuisine at Theodora in Brooklyn. 

Named for the water goddess of Amazonian legend, iara will feature an open kitchen and a menu built around Brazilian and Amazonian ingredients, including cassava, jambu, tucupi and açaí. The menu includes pão de queijo, hamachi crudo with pineapple leche de tigre and jambu, moqueca with red snapper, and picanha with cassava fries. 

Mendes, who was born in Brazil and raised in the United States, returned to Brazil in 2021 and spent a month in the Amazon learning about the region's ingredients and cooking. 

"My vision for iara is to raise awareness and educate diners about the ingredients that have shaped Brazil and the Amazon region over the years," Mendes told EVG in an email. 

No opening date has been announced yet.