Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, sits mostly on an island in a bay, joined to the mainland and to Vila Velha by bridges. It is a working port city rather than a resort, but a pleasant one, with green hills, a waterfront and a food culture that Brazilians take seriously.
The dish is the moqueca capixaba, a fish stew made with tomato, onion, coriander and annatto, and — unlike the Bahian version — without coconut milk or dendê oil. It is cooked and served in black clay pots, the panelas de barro, made by hand by the paneleiras of Goiabeiras, a community of women potters whose craft is registered as national heritage. You can watch them at work in their shed in the neighbourhood.
In the old upper town, the Palácio Anchieta and the Catedral Metropolitana stand above the bay, and the Convento da Penha across the water in Vila Velha is the city's best viewpoint. Vitória is also the gateway for the beaches of the Espírito Santo coast, and for the cool mountain country of Domingos Martins and Santa Maria de Jetibá inland.