Maybe, I thought, she should have offered to chip in for $6.75 valet parking at Fogo de Chão.
Inside the churrascaria (shur-HAWZ-ka-ree-ah), a Portuguese word for Brazilian steakhouse, the dance had already begun. Dashing waiters dressed in traditional gaucho-style bombachas — a black pantaloon that is tight at the waist, flares over the hips then tapers into the top of a riding boot — were already circling the full dining room.
The dress of the wait staff is typical of gauchos from the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Herds of cattle graze over vast pastures where Brazilian cowboys typically cook large cuts of meat in open-flame pits. Hence the restaurant’s name, which means “fire in the ground.”
Fogo de Chão offers 15 cuts of meat, including many North American butchers are not all that familiar with, such as picanha (the prime sirloin); filet mignon wrapped in bacon; alcatra (another part of the top sirloin); fraldinha (you don’t want me to translate, trust me that it comes from the bottom of the sirloin); beef ancho (ribeye); cordeiro (leg of lamb); lombo (pork loin); costela de porco (pork ribs); frango (chicken) and linguiça (pork sausage).
It took my Brazilian husband, Otavio, and me several years to find the supermarket equivalent for picanha. Ask for tri-tip roast the next time you want to really wow your friends at a backyard barbecue.
And for years that was all we could do: Cook our own.
But slowly, the Brazilian steakhouse has made its way to Kansas City, first with Em Chamas up north, then with Amor de Brazil out south (which has closed) and now with Fogo de Chão, a Dallas-based chain that includes restaurants in 14 American cities as well as São Paulo, Brasilia, Salvador and Belo Horizonte. The Country Club Plaza restaurant opened in late January, taking over the 13,000-square-foot space that was most recently George Brett’s.
I’ve experienced both the high-end white tablecloth fine-dining kind and the ma-and-pop type of joints on my trips to Brazil. I’ve also eaten at several Brazilian chains that have migrated to the United States. But Fogo de Chão is one of my favorites, both for the quality of the meat and the upscale yet unpretentious atmosphere found in the wide-open expanse of the dining room.
On two Saturday nights the dining room was packed and exuded a lovely energy. The first time I was there I noticed lots of foreigners, perhaps tourists. On prom night the crowd was less accented but certainly more decked out.
Since I called only a day in advance for reservations, on prom night seating was available before 5:30 or after 8 p.m. Brazilians eat late, so my family chose the latter. We were seated within a few minutes of our arrival, as it turns out, within earshot of a long table of promgoers. Our 15-year-old son, André, soon heard one of the teens exclaim: “This was a great idea for prom!”
The comment promptly started a debate at our table. My husband thought it was too much food before dancing, which, in his samba-crazed country, is an acutely vigorous activity. But André thought it was a fine place for prom. At least, he reasoned, you’d know roughly how much cash to have on hand. I could see his point and figured you’d also have built-in entertainment to fill in any awkward gaps in the dinner conversation.
To reach Jill Wendholt Silva, call 816-234-4395 or send e-mail to jsilva@kcstar.com | Jill Silva, The Star
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