February 1st Blog
One of the more rewarding aspects of being a food critic is the often fascinating people I get to meet who run restaurants. I don’t often get to write about them because I tend to concentrate on their menus and service et al. But this blog gives me some more latitude. So I’ll tell you about Magna Sampaio.
She was born in Brazil and came to the US to attend UT in the mid 80’s. She wanted to be an actress; eventually attended a toney performing arts school in New York City and did some off-Broadway work. But the lure of Austin was too strong and she returned back to the River City. She had a gut instinct that Austin would welcome a Brazilian restaurant: but she lacked management experience. So she went to work for Creed Ford and Norman Abdallah, the very talent operators of the Johnny Carino’s chain. Magna worked at Fired Up Foods for three years, spending eight months in Brownsville managing one of their stores down in the valley.
Then, in 2001, armed with her mother’s recipes and a boatload of pluck, she opened Sampaio’s just off the UT campus. The place was an immediate hit. But it was small and the business, because of the proximity to UT, tended to be seasonal. So when the opportunity came to move to spanking new digs at 4800 Burnet Rd. (which is now beginning to bear a resemblance to the regentrified So. Congress) she jumpred at it. Sampaio’s, the subject of this week’s review is a delight. And so is the owner.
She has a Portugese (the native tongue of Brazil) accent which is charming. She’s, a cute, little bundle of energy with longish brown hair and a michieivious sense of humor. Her passion for Brazilian culture is evident, as is her love of Austin. We sat and talked over a Brzilian mojito the other day and she is irrespressible. She tried to explain Portugese to me (I speak Spanish) and I told her about the movie Love Actually where one of the Brits falls in love with a Portugese housekeeper. He enrolls in the Berlitz school for a crash course in the language and on Christmas Eve, flies to Lisbon to propose to her, in a poor version of the native tongue. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the film.
I met her sister Marcia who is also very lovely.. She lives in Austin and is married to a professor who teaches at ACC.
The food at her restaurant is stunning. Chef Johnny Romo worked at Eddie V’s and he’s got great culinary skills.Together, he and Magna turn out some riveting dishes. But food is only one part of the story. Spend a few minutes with Magna Sampaio and you’ll see why.
