annika hagen

in the two months i spent here in brazil earlier this year, i enjoyed many a day eating mouthwatering churrasco cooked by jorge, his family or friends hosting us at their homes. (most houses here are complete with their own permanent outdoor bbq that certainly rivals our flimsy rolling devices). but.... i had never yet visited a proper brazilian churrascaria. yesterday was my lucky day! on our way out of são paulo headed back home, and on appropriately starving appetites, jorge and i went to a now world-renown, authentic brazilian steakhouse called Fogo de Chão (fo-go dèe shoun), or ground fire. feast your eyes on the smorgasbord of awesomeness. notice the gaucho dressed waiters! i only noticed their pants after slowing down on the meal, so many distractions! favorite cut: the picanha (rump cut), least favorite: chicken hearts. salad favorites: palmito! dessert: fried banana! drink: why of course a caipirinha! 

(bottom middle) the old way of doing it, hence "fire on the floor", (right) the best picanha!

(left) sausage and chicken hearts, (right) delicious picks from the salad bar

done like dinner and a fried banana

 waiter's gaucho outfit

visited the tuesday (segunda-feira) street fair down the block today.... bought some veggies for juicing, a traditional brazilian floor mat, a wooden spoon and a loofha. the days of the week in portugues (segunda-feira, the second fair to sexta-feira, the sixth fair) come from the number of the street fair days. Saturday and Sunday exluded, well, Sunday (Domingo) holds itself as the first day of the week although named after Santo Domingo.

a dinner i won't soon forget... incredible. the setting alone, impossible to capture a worthy picture of the giant fig tree that nestles the figueira patio under it's tremendous canopy. epic.

http://www.rubaiyat.com.br/restaurantes/figueira-rubaiyat