Fogo de Chão Awards

Fogo de Chão Restaurant Review:

This traditional Brazilian churrascaria features a cobalt blue-tile tower with a visible open-flame rotisserie as the focal point of its décor, and large murals depict scenes of the gaucho culture and lifestyle. The all-you-can-eat meal begins with a trip to the salad bar, which carries imported cheeses, cured meats and gourmet salads. But don’t fill up before the main event --- visits to your table by an army of gaucho chefs who personally season and roast the meat selections they are entrusted to cook. Mesquite-grilled beef, pork, chicken and lamb come in 15 presentations of 12 different cuts. We especially like the sirloin, offered in variations of picanha (prime-cut with or without garlic), alcatra (top cut) and fraldinha (bottom cut). Included are sides of sweet fried plantains, black beans, rice, garlic mashed potatoes, crispy polenta wedges and cheese bread, as well as meat toppings of chimichurri, homemade hot sauce, horseradish and mint jelly. A glass wine cellar houses 4,400 wines from South America, Australia, Spain, Italy, Germany and the U.S. For dessert, the papaya cream is a blend of fresh papaya and vanilla ice cream topped with crème de cassis, which serves as a much-needed digestif. The Sunday Brazilian Brunch served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. includes filet mignon, rib-eye, lamb chops, picanha, bone-in pork roast, braised beef rib hash and pão de queijo egg bake.