Fogo de Chao

This past Saturday I had the manliest meal I've ever had. Last Sunday, my roommate R went to Atlantic City to help run a Police Expo, something that he has been doing for the past gazillion years. Right before he left that Sunday, He asks me, "Have any bets you want to place?"

 

Without skipping a beat I pull out a twenty and tell him to bet Black, Red, Red, and then Black. I had gone into a trance, it was this weird zone - a type of rhythm athletes pick up. I was Dwayne Wade for a good five seconds.

 

That night while laying in bed with my girlfriend, R calls. I think to myself, shit, he forgot something. Nope. He says, "Hey Buddy, I just won you $290!"

 

And so this past Saturday, we go out in style to Fogo De Chao. It's a classy joint on 11th and Penn. It's colored by bachelor parties, expense accounts, anniversaries, birthday parties and high rollers. It's an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ. This place is definitely not PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) friendly but more for my PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals). They bring out huge skewers of Fillets, tips, lamb, chicken, parmesan pork and sausages. Each patron gets a coin with green on one side and red on the other. With a flip to green, the servers come by with these chunks of meat, slice you off a bit with a sword until you flip the coin over to red. They have one waiter dedicated to solely bringing you out side dishes of fried bananas and cheddar and chived mashed potatoes. The salad bar is an array of fresh vegetables, sun dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, a large wheel of parmesan cheese and anti-pasto meats, including smoked salmon.

 

R and I have cocktails, a bottle of really good Kenwood Merlot and about a cow and a half each. It was much needed male bonding time. I forget sometimes how much we've been through together and how much we've seen. Yeah, so It was a man date! And it being a man date, I rightly fished the meal off with a large glass of Macallen 12 on the rocks and R had an Irish Coffee. Not Irish enough, he said.

 

I'm still in a bit of a food comotose.