Fogo de Chao Churrascaria ~ Atlanta, Georgia

  I fortunately reached a historic day, as I turned the ripened age of fifty.  I sound like a rotting piece of fruit, but this called for a celebration. My wife was perplexed over where we should celebrate until she started a search on Urbanspoon. She chose Fogo de Chao Churrascaria after reading several reviews. She hit a home run. We had a fantastic time and an excellent dinner. However, as usual, there is a story.


  While relaxing before dinner, I had done some research about Brazilian food. Many of my friends are world travelers. So naturally, I asked my Brazilian friend Judy about what to expect at a Brazilian restaurant. She jumped for joy (if you can do that on line) as I was about to dine at her favorite restaurant. She explained to me what foods would be available. She instructed me to ask for "maminha na manteiga" for dinner and "Mousse de Maracuja" for dessert.


  Judy seems like a sweet woman and has never been hostile to me. However, after translating maminha na mantegia, I wondered if this would be her version of a birthday prank. She had instructed me to ask for "titty butter" from the Gauchos. I was not sure if I would be able ask for this special cut of meat without getting slapped. After much ado, Judy assured me that "titty butter" was a literal translation. She also assured me that in no way was it meant to be a comment that would fall into that "grey area". Yeah, right. "Please pass the titty butter."


  We booked an early reservation on Saturday night. From the suburbs, with Braves baseball traffic jamming I-75/I-85, it only took forty five minutes to arrive at Fogo de Chao's free valet parking service. The bar swarmed with activity upon our arrival. Ladies wearing summer blouses with matching purses and four inch sandals garnished the bar the way that limes decorate a Brazilian cocktail. The entry had an energy of anticipation.  The mingling of the hosts and guests at the bar pleasantly distracted us upon entering. While the hostess seated us immediately, I noticed no Southern slang, such as Ya'll, honey, sugar, or any other derivative of Sir or Ma'am in her language. What a pleasure (although I enjoy a decent "sugar pie" every now and again.)! On the way to the table, the expansive and never-ending wine racks mesmerized me.


  Servers dodged the Gaucho dudes wearing funny-looking boots, and wide black belts, toting hot skewers of cooked protein. Every worker scurried about in organized chaos. Amazingly the staff did not run into each other, the way mindless Atlantians do while driving in the rain on I-285. The hostess guided us to a comfortable white tablecloth two-top. The dimmed room gave out a cozy vibe. The server immediately came to the table and told us the routine. A blizzard of information attacked our frontal lobes. The quad-fold brochure-looking menu was even more dizzying than the waiter's interpretation of the same. Therefore, I put the "menu" down and ordered some Brazilian red wine. I figured out relatively quickly that this was a fancy-dance-all-you-can-eat. (I am sure someone will school me one day on the proper use of hyphens.) Where is Nell?


  Part of the routine is the red and green disks placed on the tables. Yes, green equals go, and red equals stop. The Gaucho dudes will not stop coming, until one flips the disk to red. Remember, I gave fair warning. The server gave us the green light to go to the salad bar. Now, take "THAT" image of a salad bar out of your mind. It was more like a salad hill than a salad bar. I did veer away from the giant marinated beans, but I found the choices unique and fresh. I especially enjoyed the Heart of Palm and the Tabouli salad. As I started to stock my plate, I heard "Don't fill up on the salad and pastas." It was Judy whispering in my ear.


  Shuddering hearing her voice in my head, I stopped filling my plate and settled down to enjoy my salad. Soon thereafter, my wife and I looked at the red disks, then looked at each other. This continued for several moments until we took the plunge and flipped the disks to green. A whirlwind of boots, belts, and skewered meat encircled the table. The Gauchos quickly delivered Sirloin, chicken, lamb, sausage, Ribeye, and Filet until stopped with the red disk. Every cut was excellent. 


  Then I just had to ask for it. I had long forgotten how to ask in Portuguese for the cut of meat that Judy had described as the best. I decided to cut to the chase, and I asked the waiter for "the meat that translates to 'titty butter' in Portuguese". He let us know that although it is a remarkable cut of sirloin, they were not serving the Tri-tip sirloin at this time. Rats.


  We did enjoy the Flan and the Passion Fruit desserts. The entire experience was delightful. I recommend Fogo de Chao for any special occasion.

On a scale of one to five meat skewers, Fogo de Chao Churrascaria, I give thee five meat skewers.

Thanks for reading!
gf

You might be from Georgia if......

 

...you like BBQ ribs.

 

... you know what the Varsity is all about.

...you have a home AC unit mounted in your rear passenger window which is powered by your portable generator.

  ...you come home and watch this on the news after eating your dinner.

...within thirty minutes of recording this video you have been to the store and bought enough eggs, bread, milk, and beer to last for the next ten days.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

gf

Four Way Stops ~ The Deep South Part 1.5

My town is the epicenter of the universe when it comes to four way stops. There really is no reason for most of them. I suppose that most were created by a stern "recommendation" by some crusty Board of Commissioner's wife who did not like it at all that she had to wait her turn at the entrance of her subdivision. This is precisely how ninety eight percent of all four way stops were most likely born in our county.

On my five mile drive to work there are two three way stops, one four way stops and three traffic lights. The issue is not whether drivers need to slow down, and they do, but rather what they do once they have stopped. The majority of southerners do not know what to do at a four way stop. They feel bad that you had to stop too. Therefore they do the only Southern thing to be done....wave the other person on through who got to the stop last. I found out lately that this is not the only time this event takes place. I was turning left at a traffic light last week when a nice lady coming toward me stopped on her green light (backing up traffic) to let me turn left. It's a Southern thing? Not sure about that.

What are the rules? Glad you asked.
Click here for South Carolina rules on a four way stop.
Click here for Georgia rules on a four way stop. Page 38.
Here is Jim Loy's notes on a four way stop. He has some very good insights.
EHow chimes in here.

I think that the problem in this county is that there is no real understanding of why a four way stop should be put in place. Stopping all traffic with a four way would mean logically all the traffic is even from all four directions. This is not the thought process in this county. Stop everyone no matter what is the motto. Stopping the flow of traffic for a subdivision entrance, for example, is nonsense.

Recently the city build an access road connection two county roads within the city limits. It connects heavy traffic from a Super Wal Mart to another county road, and will lighten traffic around major congestion. It has been completed. However, we cannot drive on it because it will cause a traffic dilemma as there is no traffic control at the intersection.The county said that they will not install a traffic light as they did not build the road; stating that the city built the road and they should have factored that into the cost. The Mayor closed the road citing that it was a dangerous intersection. He did suggest a solution: a four way stop. Hooah! Victory! Great thought processes are at work here.

Now I think that this is epic enough of a situation that a real solution be brought to light. A grandiose solution at that! Traffic circle. All of the great cities have them. Atlanta has the greatest traffic circle of them all in the Watermelon 500 (I-285). Paris, Saigon, London have them, and they are all pieces of art.

 Damascus

London

 Paris

 Saigon

 Not sure where this is. Ugly.


So Douglasville Georgia, give it a go. Traffic circles will solve your ills.

gf