SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – When 38-year-old Sei Shiroma’s parents moved to the United States, they wanted him to live the American dream. It was not in the plans of the two immigrants, he from Japan and she from China, for their only son to go to Rio de Janeiro to sell pizzas.
Born in New York – and the first in his family to speak fluent English – Sei had a traditional career ahead of him. He attended an elite school, Saint David’s, where his classmates were Andrew Giuliani, son of the city’s former mayor, Rudy. The success of his parents’ restaurant, Suibi, one of the first to serve Japanese food in Manhattan, paid for his studies.
At university he wanted to get away from his family, landing at the University of Tampa, in Florida, where he studied literature. Once he graduated, he returned to his hometown and got a job in advertising.
In his early 20s, Sei was already earning quite well; He even had an apartment. In the metropolis I lived with many immigrants who talked about their countries of origin. From a young age I longed for the experience of speaking a new language, with an accent, and learning a new culture.
The person who put Rio on his radar was a Carioca who stayed at home, at the beginning of Airbnb. The boy convinced him to travel through Brazil, on a route that included Salvador, São Paulo and the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
If this first experience already captivated the heart of the American, when he started dating a woman from Rio, in New York, the work of convincing was completed. In 2011 he decided to move with her to Rio de Janeiro, where he began looking for work in his training camp.
But, without speaking Portuguese or having a work visa, the search was ignominious. Months passed and the money dwindled. The situation led him to look for other income options. With fond memories of his parents’ restaurant, where he spent his childhood, gastronomy seemed a natural choice.
At first he thought about working with Japanese cuisine, but he had little money for it. After crossing many options off the list of possibilities, he arrived at pizzas, an alternative that fit the budget.
Alone and with the help of YouTube videos, he designed a metal oven to bake his rounds. The material, unlike masonry, was designed to resist the irregularities of the streets, since Sei’s intention was to attach the oven to his car, a Fiat Uno. Hence the name of his restaurant, Ferro e Farinha. In it, instead of gas or electricity, the pizzas would be baked with wood, another option also based on price.
With the oven built, it’s time to think about recipes. As a good New Yorker, I had flavor references in my memory. One of the first was Domenico, the name of an Italian gentleman he had known since he was a child; It’s the equivalent of daisy topping. Another one he developed was the picnic, made with four cheeses and spicy honey. He drew on his Asian roots to create green manure, made with cabbage marinated in soy sauce and ginger.
Pizzas, designed to be eaten with your hands, were sold on the streets of the city. Sei always announced on social media where he would be. Their differentiator was offering cheaper options that were still good quality, but that wasn’t what made the business explode in the first place.
Without a license to operate, the movement began slowly. One of its points of sale was São Salvador Square, in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, but someone from the region – suspecting it to be a competitor – called the Civil Guard to inspect the pizzeria’s car. They forced him to leave the place, but the case resonated on social networks.
It began to be seen as synonymous with good and cheap pizzas. From then on he informed where he was going three hours in advance and, when he arrived, he found lines of people waiting for his roasts.
Although a success, the model was painful. To wash the utensils, Sei needed to carry a gallon of water; There were no benches or bathrooms.
In 2014, he changed Uno for a small 20 m² store in Catete, south of Rio. Work on the pizzeria started well, but the money quickly ran out, prompting the cook to do some of the repairs himself. With the establishment open – which also had an iron oven fueled with wood, his signature – the American saw his clientele dwindle. The situation scared him a little.
The winds began to change after the press took notice of the place. Sei was described in the texts as a samurai who danced with the masses. From then on, famous chefs from the city appeared, such as Rafa Costa e Silva, who runs Lasai, a restaurant with two Michelin stars.
Global actors attracted by Sei’s pizzas, such as Mariana Ximenes and Carolina Ferraz, passed through the small room that barely held ten people. For three months, Catete’s small store was packed with customers, until the size could no longer adapt to the businessman’s plans.
Today, the American, now with a Rio accent, opens his fifth unit, in the Leblon shopping center, with rounds between R$ 55 and R$ 72. This year, Ferro e Farinha entered the Top Pizza, a ranking of the best pizzerias in Brazil . world. He reached number 89, the only Carioca on the list. In São Paulo there are four, like Leggera, in 15th place.
For him, the restaurant’s success depends on consistency, whether in the recipe for its best-selling dressing, New York, made with two types of tomato sauce and mozzarella aged for 30 days, or in the service. Awards, he says, generate expectations among customers, hence the importance of maintaining a standard.
Sei is also behind other ventures in Rio, such as South e Ferro, specializing in ramen, and Suibi, a new version of the family’s restaurants, which he no longer fears for his son’s future.
The father, 77 years old, came to see the projects that he had only seen in photos. He tried Ferro e Farinha’s starters, such as the octopus carpaccio, which was cooked over the fire, and then the pizzas. Before, he feared for his son’s career; I wasn’t even aware of his cooking skills.
Impressed by Sei’s restaurants and the beauty of Rio de Janeiro, he also considers moving to the city.
