Restaurant Dois de Fevereiro pays tribute to Iansã and Oxum with a special festival in Rio’s Little Africa from 4 to 7 December.
From 4 to 7 December, Dois de Fevereiro, the restaurant led by chef João Diamante, presents a special program honoring two major female deities of candomblé: Iansã and Oxum.
The celebration also reflects the syncretism that shapes Brazilian culture: Saint Barbara’s Day, on 4 December, associated with Iansã, and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, on 8 December, linked to Oxum.
The initiative takes place in Pequena África (Little Africa), a symbolic territory for Afro-Brazilian memory where cuisine, devotion and ancestral knowledge have long been intertwined.
There, at Dois de Fevereiro, João Diamante develops an emotional and contemporary cuisine that highlights Brazilian ingredients, African roots and the spiritual strength that runs through his trajectory.
Acarajé and Ipeté for the Yabás
For the Festival de Iansã a Oxum, Dois de Fevereiro serves dishes that symbolically translate the colors, elements and energy of the orixás, always through Diamante’s authorial lens.
The menu features Acarajé de Iansã – an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Brazil – and Ipeté de Oxum, a yam purée with dendê oil and shrimp.
The dishes will be available from 4 December, Saint Barbara’s Day, associated with Iansã, a figure linked to strength and resistance, until 7 December.
The celebrations echo tributes to Oxum, whose official day is 8 December, connected to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, evoking faith, affection and prosperity.
Chef João Diamante’s perspective
Known for promoting Afro-Brazilian gastronomy and for his social initiatives, João Diamante turns Dois de Fevereiro into a space that unites food, memory and identity.
The tribute to the Yabás reinforces his view that cooking is also about preserving stories, strengthening bonds and celebrating cultural matrices that shape Brazil.
“My perspective on this tribute goes beyond the kitchen. When I prepare Oxum’s Ipeté, I am offering respect, memory and axé. Each ingredient carries intention: yam that becomes softness, dendê that brings light, ginger that awakens, shrimp that symbolize abundance. It is my way of honoring this energy of care, beauty and prosperity — turning devotion into flavor.”
Dois de Fevereiro in Little Africa
Located in Pequena África, Dois de Fevereiro is named after a highly symbolic date – the day of Iemanjá – and embeds reverence for the orixás and Afro-diasporic heritage in its culinary practice.
The restaurant blends contemporary techniques, Brazilian ingredients and ancestral narratives to offer an experience that goes beyond the plate, bringing together affection, culture and spirituality.
The 4–7 December celebration reinforces the restaurant’s purpose: honoring the Yabás, strengthening traditions and celebrating the meeting of faith, gastronomy and territory in Little Africa.
Photos: Raphael Phillips.
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Dois de Fevereiro
Rua Sacadura Cabral, 79
Largo da Prainha – Pequena África, Rio de Janeiro
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
