If you are a vegan, stop reading right now, this article is NOT for you, if, on the contrary you enjoy juicy, tender, flavourful meats please read it thoroughly, take notes, get hungry and head directly to one of the biggest protein parties you will ever encounter: Fogo de Chao.
Fogo is a Brazilian chain, we discovered it in Rodeo Drive a couple of years ago, and with an Argentinian on toll this was like Christmas and Birthday combined. Ever since, we have been going wherever we find it, LA, Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, so when we were driving around and saw it, we all knew it was a matter of days before we visited this branch.
Of course we now need to account for the dystopian world with stop signs and whatnot so, to keep in line with CoVid safety regulations we decided to give it a few weeks before we actually visited the place. The restaurant has to comply to some measures, the first, and saddest for the writer is that the salad bar was off limits, you could ask the waiter what you wanted and he would go and fetch it for you but there was no way to go and decide whether you want Parmiggiano or Olives and Artichokes or just plain salad… but this is the new world and let’s just hope at some point we will all be able to go back to the salad table on our own.
If you don’t know the concept of Espeto Corrido or Churrascaria now is a good time to experience it. The Churrascarias come from Brazil and it’s a mix of the Brazilian heritage to smoke meats on wood and the Portuguese tradition to grill food on a spade. Good quality meat, sea salt and fire makes it for a feast that can last hours on end. Basically take a very light breakfast and come hungry, there is a huge variety of meats, from poultry, pork, some mutton and above everything beef.
Now to our experience at fogo de Chao Mexico, first, we started with de rigueur Passion Fruit Caipirinha and we immediately ordered some of the salads, note to the wise, ask for Palm hearts and Artichoke hearts since you arrive, they tend to take a bit to come, there is also the typical fried banana and some nice cheese, then the cuts started arriving. They give you this very useful (albeit too relevant in present times) red/green circles that you turn for when you’re ready to get more meat or not, chorizo, chicken parmigiana, ribs, rumpsteak, tenderloin, rib eye, and my absolute favourites Alcatra (top sirloin) and Picanha (prime part of the top sirloin) came around. The meat is very good, the right amount of grilled but still juicy, and you can also ask for a bit of a more charred part if you like that.
We were about to explode when we realised the bread basket had Pan de Queijo (cheese and yucca flour salty bread, a-ma-zing) and we had to force ourselves to eat at least one of those. Last, because I have the intelligence of a fish (that can eat until they explode) I ordered some grilled pineapple with cinnamon which was incredibly satisfying at the end of such a meal. We again were unable to try any of the other desserts but I strongly suggest that if you are like us, at least try the pineapple for a beautiful wrap up of your meal.
Obrigado Fogo de Chao!
Authenticity: 90%
Ambience: Work lunch, family reunion, a group of hungry friends!
Service: 90%
Taste: YUM!
Day to go: Any day!
Take me there!: https://fogodechao.com.mx/
Comments