Fogo de Chao Brazil in Beverly Hills

133 N. La Cienega Blvd. Beverly Hills 310 289-7755

Another Friday night on Beverly Hills’ Restaurant Row and this fresh new Brazilian import can be blamed for creating traffic congestion. If you’ve been blasé enough not to notice the blue tile tower flaunting succulent meats as you inch down La Cienega, the trail of gleaming cars pulling into its lavish rainforest-inspired entrance will make you take note. We’ve already been advised, politely, that our reservations may run a tad bit late.  But despair not; this only gives you a chance to get a head start on the cane spirit concoction known as the caipirinha in a bar richly appointed with herringbone tile, cherry leather walls, votive candles and sexy people.

When we are finally escorted into one of the two sprawling dinning rooms with walls paying tribute to gaucho life in grand murals, we are educated in the color-coded etiquette of the feast that is about to be unleashed upon us – Green side up will keep the gauchos coming with fresh fire-roasted skewers of meat and Red will buy you some time.  We are also told that waiters work as part of a team, so please don’t hesitate to ask anyone for anything. Surely we misheard them. This is, after all, an industry that tries to enhance service by making sure servers confine their smiles to allocated zones, the rest be snubbed.  But once the espeto corridor or “continuous service” begins, we realize that “team spirit” is a passion here.

A mesmerizing buffet beckons in the center of the restaurant.  The custom-built ice bath is covered with a bounty that includes roasted sweet peppers, chunky slices of beefsteak tomatoes, artichoke hearts, asparagus spears, buttery pink slices of prosciutto, salame, and smoked salmon. Resistance is futile.  It’s only after we’ve picked from the salad bar that we head for the table where the first to arrive is a basket of warm cheese rolls or pao de queijo.  The addicting rolls are good enough to seduce the palate of even the most discriminating Brazilian and one is even tempted to think they taste better here, a feat unless you’re thinking Indian food in England.

Dressed in billowy pants and tucked-in white shirts, the eager servers at this bustling churrascaria circle around tables bearing skewers threaded with different cuts of meat and invite you to pick the carved slices with your pair of silver tongs.  Choose from meaty ribs, morsels of baby lamb chops, chicken thighs wrapped in bacon, top or bottom sirloin, baby leg of lamb and pork ribs.  Of these, the ones that will drive you to pure rapture are the picanha—the Brazilian cut of sirloin seasoned with rock salt and garlic – and the bacon-wrapped filet.  It’s worth noting that the gauchos who serve you are also in charge of tending to the meat as it cooks.  They are able to customize to the patron’s taste whether rare, medium or well-done by carving the fire-roasted meat accordingly and in some cases simply by selecting the appropriately cooked skewer.

An extensive wine cellar sports a satisfying variety from California, Spain, Argentina and Chile to accompany the prix-fixe meal but after the first fiery, appetite-inducing caipirinha, more are guaranteed to follow.

-GD

IN THE SPIRIT

Sip luxury through these premium spirits that seduce the most discriminating palate and raise the ‘bar.’

SKYY 90   The iconoclastic martini drinker can raise the glass high with Skyy 90’s 100% distillate, made with amber winter wheat and Sierra Mountain water, and delivered at 90 proof in a stylish tower-bottle that is a showpiece in itself.  Called ‘the world’s first modern luxury vodka’ Skyy90 is the result of a $25MM investment so that shaken or stirred, nothing compares.   www.skyy90.com
GOSLING’S FAMILY RESERVE OLD RUM   Forget the Coke, this valued sipping rum is a connoisseur’s choice and is meant to be enjoyed like a rare Scotch or Cognac.  Aged in oak barrels until it acquires its complexity, the rum is then bottled in a fitting ritual.  Each bottle is hand-labeled, dipped in wax, numbered, encircled with a metal band, and delivered in a straw-filled wooden box reminiscent of the ‘Old World.’ Awarded the Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco Spirits Competition.   www.goslingsrum.com
MARTIN MILLER’S GIN   Who can resist the romance in the slogan of this award-winning gin “born of love, obsession and some degree of madness?”  Packaged stunningly in a cartographic bottle, this gin muscles its way through the vodkas with its aroma of juniper berries and citrus fruits.  Lovingly distilled in small batches, Miller’s is a purist’s dream and a martini’s soul.   www.millersgin.com
SEA WYNDE Pot Still Rum   A blend of five pot still rums, Sea Wynde is a rare and complex offering resplendent with the aromas of sandalwood, vanilla and cinnamon.  Best sipped on its own, this is the only rum in the world made entirely from pot still rums from the Caribbean and South America that are aged in oak barrels between five and eleven years.  Robust and deeply satisfying.   www.winespecialist.com