Carlota was once my restaurant in town. As of yesterday, I was scratching it off my list. My view of the institution has had ups and downs over the past 20 years, but it's undeniable that it has entered a downward spiral and I'm not sure it will continue. I must say that its attitude to cost reduction is not only obvious, but also very annoying at this price point. Everything - utensils, porcelain, glasses, uniforms, furniture, lighting, air conditioning units, bathroom soap, hand towels - screams "cheap!". They even cancelled the tablecloth a few years ago! This cost reduction has inevitably reached the kitchen. They systematically changed recipes that might have sold well, but the margins might have been small. For example, their Vietnamese rolls were delicious a few years ago, but they first removed two of the three original sauces and now - from this year - they decided to get rid of shrimp altogether! Their crispy shrimp dish was once one of my favorite dishes in Sao Paulo: the prawns are fried tempura style, served with Parma ham simmered with sweet and sour sauce. I tasted its 2017 version yesterday and - honestly and well-meaning, it's really unmatched! The prawns "shrink" to the size of the small shrimp; to disguise the apparent change in size, they now place the shrimp in an unusual amount of floury thick paste and fry them separately. Italian simmer has such a spicy taste - seeping out too much intense cheese - it simply exceeds the whole dish; but it doesn’t mask the disgusting taste of the uncooked raw flour sauce around these tiny absurd shrimps. As for the sweet and sour sauce: Remove from existence! The restaurant's "troller du vin" is definitely a side show and probably the worst. Of its thirty or so bottled options, it is almost impossible to find an honest, quality wine selection. Also, their cocktails were downplayed - though too sweet - the "creative" version of traditional Brazilian caipirinha. Carlotta's location is really good. It is located in the heart of Higienópolis' famous residential area. It was the only reasonable reason I could think of, and it had been open for a long time.