Wednesday, November 30, 2016.
Mother Nature's Notebook.
Tonight at midnight, the hurricane season ended. We have had very little to worry about, which probably gave me a cumulative week or two of time I'd spend looking at weather radars if I had anything to look at.
The miracle dog Susie continues to amaze. With what two veterinarians both called a hopeless, inoperable bone cancer, Susie spends all non-rainy times digging holes in the Cool Water Ranch. She appears to have escalated this operation while we were in Los Angeles. How does she do it?
This is the time of year that I make note of since we moved to the Ranch on the day after Thanksgiving in 1990. What caught my attention then and now are some picture-perfect, large, bright orange toadstools. The are beautiful from the moment the emerge until they begin to rot. They aren't edible, just a decoration. But they mark this part of the calendar accurately, and makes me love this place more every year.
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Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Fogo De Chao
The Marys discovered and instantly loved the kind of restaurant called a churrascaria. Known in this country as a Brazilian steak house, it's known for its unusual way of serving diners: the waiters walk up to the table with what looks like a hydraulic sword, and slices off some of the meat he bears. In the course of the evening, the diners are offered several cuts of steak, lamb, pork, and turkey. You can point at exactly the past of the meat that is cooked your way, and get it. If you really like something, you can get more of it, as much as you like.
We first encountered one of these places in New York City when we visited there in 1998. All four of us loved the concept. The Marys and Jude had another chance to enjoy it in the time after Hurricane Katrina. We were parked first in Atlanta and then in Washington D.C., two of the thirty-something American locations of Fogo De Chao. (They have another thirty or so in Brazil.)
The Marys kept on going to Fogo whenever they were in a place that had a franchise. I lost interest in it after the fourth or fifth time. I understand the appeal of unlimited meat of good quality, but I don't indulge in it myself much anymore.
There was an attempt a few years ago to open Brazilian steakhouses here in New Orleans. They didn't last long, and I can tell you why: they were terrible. All-you-can-eat doesn't cover all flaws.
It has always been clear, however, that Fogo is an excellent operation with high standards. The New Orleans location, in the J.W. Marriott Hotel (where the dreary Shula's steak house was for a few years) has great looks, wonderful aromas as the steaks emerge from the kitchen's grills, and better flavor than I remember from past encounters. The service staff, most of whom looked and sounded as if that had come from far away, were full of information and were always setting you up to maximize enjoyment of the next time, whatever it may be.
The Marys, of course, loved it. But it got me, too. I won't be a regular, but it will be a great spot to take the girls for something I know makes them happy.
Speaking of keeping the girls happy, I heard a turnabout today on a famous line of marital wisdom. It says, "happy wife, happy life." The new one is "happy spouse, happy house." I'd like to see how that plays.
The most unusual part of the Fogo dinner was a dessert, which was sort of a liquefied flan with pureed papaya. You could have eaten it with a straw. I loved it.
Fogo De Chao. CBD: 614 Canal St. (504) 412-8900
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