A Buffet AND Chain

It feels like blasphemy to offer this piece as the headliner in the newsletter because this place represents a lot of what Tom liked to rail about, but Fogo de Chão adheres to Tom’s rule Number One: if it tastes good, it is good.

Back in the late 1990s people began calling the show about the Brazilian Churrascaria, which was surprisingly a new one on Tom. The concept had begun to take the US by storm. Tom was intrigued because he had gotten so many calls about a place in New York City called Churrascaria Plataforma on the West Side of NYC near Columbus Circle. We were heading to the city for a post-Christmas holiday in 2000 and our hotel, The Hudson, was just blocks away, so one night we trudged through the snow to have “the experience.”

And indeed we did. It was a wild new world. A buffet it was, which is anathema to Tom, but no one had ever seen a buffet like this. At the center of the very large and glamorous room was a spread of the most beautiful vegetables and salads I’d ever seen. There were cheeses and cold meats, accoutrements, and dressings. But the main reason to go to a churrascaria is the swords. Each person had a little paper disc that is green on one side and red on the other. If the disc side up is green, gauchos carrying swords of skewered meat right out of the fire arrive at your table to offer you a slice or two, as you wish. You are provided small tongs to help extricate the meat. Yes, this is a gimmick, but it is fun. Restaurants with great food do not need to rely on gimmicks. This one doesn’t either, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for the gimmick. It's a fun bonus. You can get fantastic food at more than this one place, but you can only get meat on swords at a Brazilian Churrascaria.

We were powerfully impressed at that place so long ago. We have never returned to the Churrascaria Plataforma, but two years after that experience my daughter and I began traveling to visit my niece in Atlanta. It was there that we noticed Fogo de Chão, which was a national chain of Brazilian Churrascarias.  This place was smaller than the one in New York City, but every bit as glamorous. Large chunks of meat hung in the entrance behind heavy glass. The salad bar in the center of the room was the equal of the one in New York. And so was the price. Fogo de Chão is not cheap. It is a place offering first-class everything. Yes, a buffet is involved, but this is no boo-fay. It is premium quality everything, with white tablecloths and all the trappings of excellence.

In addition to the salad bar and the roasted meats, a separate table offers Feijoada, a fantastic Brazilian stew of black beans with chopped meats served over rice. There is also a large pile of candied bacon for the taking on this table.

When a diner turns their cardboard disc to green, gauchos come in a steady stream to the table, offering an array of meat like Filet Mignon, Bone-In Ribeye, the signature Picanha (prime top sirloin), Fraldinha (top and bottom sirloin), Lombo (pork), Torresmo (pork belly), Costela (beef ribs), Alcatra (top sirloin), Frango (chicken), Linguica (spicy pork sausage), and Bisteca de Porco (bone-in pork chop), Medalhōes (bacon wrapped chicken and beef), and Cordeiro (Lamb Picanha and chops.)

A dish of mashed potatoes is placed on the table and another of fried polenta beside caramelized bananas. Warm Paō de Queijo arrives at the table when you sit. This is puffy cheese bread similar to popovers.

A lot has been said about Fogo de Chão on The Food Show, mainly because of the Marys obsession with it. ML and I used to visit regularly for lunch. The incredible salad bar and Feijoada are called the Market Table, and it is $18. This is a deal of deals. The only thing missing is the meats. There is a slight upcharge for a lunch special that includes one or two meats. But the reason we went recently was that on IG Fogo de Chão had been advertising a $39 special available any time which was almost the “full experience.” When I inquired about it I was told “a few” of the meats would not be included. 

Maybe I just needed a good excuse to return to Fogo de Chão. I had no reason to expect this would not be a deal because deals are plentiful here. The quality of the food and overall environment is a deal at the regular prices. Even Tom, who hates chains and buffets, has admitted it was stellar.

My visits to Fogo have slowed down considerably since COVID and the change in our lives. There is nothing different about the place. The physical space and service are exactly the same, as is the quality of everything. 

It took a while for gauchos to arrive at our table, and I thought this was the catch. Then our waitress suggested we turn our discs to green to get them to come. Uh, …yeah. As soon as we flipped them the usual steady stream of swords came to the table to provide us with meats. I don't remember which ones she said were not part of the special, but we wanted for nothing. We even had a few visits from the guy with the lamb.

Tom started with a dish of cheese and some carved ham. I gave him a few pieces of the cheese bread. It had no discernible cheese flavor and the texture was like a popover - hollow in the middle.

He also had some cold-smoked salmon. I made a huge salad for us both and split it at the table, using the basil dressing that I always get, though I have used others for different salads. It’s hard not to nibble on the premium cheeses that comprise a small section of the salad bar. There are grilled vegetables here, along with rarely seen premium salad bar items like hearts of palm and pepperoncini. There are beans and lentils, and chickpeas, and nuts and olives. It would be easy to make a cold antipasti plate, and we often do, but this day we were on a mission to assess the value of this offer. We had to save room for meat! And a heaping bowl of Feijoada.

One thing that has changed since COVID is the sausage, which now comes in a roll instead of the short links that were much easier to dislodge from the gaucho’s swords. Since that was one of my two favorite things I noticed it. The sausage was still very good but just harder to get from the sword. 

Usually, the Gaucho has a knife that he uses to slide the meat onto your plate. You help him with tongs. Small individual pieces of meat are what I prefer. The chicken and steak individually wrapped with bacon and grilled are a smaller portion and a preference for me. These were as exceptional on this visit as always. So were the Fraldinha (top and bottom sirloin that we call flank steak.) I was told that certain cuts would not be offered with this promotion, so I was surprised to see lamb come to the table. No beef ribs, which are my absolute favorite, and I didn’t see any pork, except pork sausage.

Everything that came from the sword was perfectly cooked and tender with a gorgeous sear to it, exuding juiciness, with a nice sheen that melting animal fat exudes. It almost makes me lose sympathy for the cavemen. This is the way meat should be prepared, cooking in its own juices over open fire without seasonings that obscure the flavor.

Even the sides that come (except the cheese bread) are very good. The mashed potatoes are not extraordinary but certainly good enough. The polenta fries were also fine, and the bananas were delicious. 

I don’t usually eat these because my preferred meat accompaniment is an interesting salad with a great dressing. There is an enormous table here to fulfill any green fantasy I can imagine.

At the end of the meal, a man came to the table offering squares of cheese with honey. We almost passed on this offer, but I'm so glad we caved to his enthusiasm. The Queijo Assado is a hunk of white cheddar that is grilled with honey drizzled on it. This is so sublime it is hard to comprehend.

This special promotion is over, though it reoccurs annually. At $62.50 pp for dinner for the “full experience,” and $46.50 pp for lunch, I can’t deny that it is pricey. People who don’t think so can enhance their experience with a seafood tower and lobster. Those who don’t usually eat like that can go for the Market Table (so much classier in every way than a salad bar) which is $18 at lunch and $36 at dinner. Singular meats are available to add to your salad at a la carte prices. And an incredible Happy Hour is available all day at the bar.

Whenever we go I feel that we are the only locals in the place. That begs two questions for me: Why do tourists come to New Orleans and go to a chain with all the great local restaurants? And, why do locals who get to eat that great food all the time not drop in here to a chain with superb quality for a fun “experience?”