Fogo de Chão, Washington, D.C.

Today I was supposed to meet Robert at the National Press Club for lunch, but he was feeling sick this morning and backed out. So, I cancelled my reservation and talked Ryan into going out for a late lunch (far be it for me to ask him to get up before noon!), since this is the last day of the "official" Restaurant Week (several others are extending another week, but that's not part of the official program). He looked at the available places and decided upon the Brazilian churrascaria Fogo de Chão on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Federal Triangle area.

For those of you who've never been to a churrascaria, it's a sort of Brazilian steakhouse, except instead of ordering a specific piece of meat, you select from various meats brought around the dining room by gaucho-trousered waiters bearing roasts skewered on swords. The waiters keep coming around feeding you until you are so full you are ready to pop. Fogo also has a fabulous salad bar with many delicious, high-end, gourmet selections.


So, we had all kinds of things from top sirloin to filet mignon to pork ribs to leg of lamb. Along with the meats, they bring sides, this time a garlic cheese mashed potato dish, some bread-like stuff that was a sort of cross between polenta and cornbread, and some sweet sautéed bananas.

After eating way, way too much meat, I made a little sojourn to the salad bar. Eschewing the traditional lettuces, greens, and salad materials, I filled up a plate with green and white asparagus spears, artichoke hearts, gigantic green olives, hand-carved broccoli spears, red and golden beets, Waldorf salad, parmesan cheese wedges, and some little balls of fresh mozzarella. I probably sampled only about a quarter of the offerings. They had a huge tray of smoked salmon and an assortment of thinly sliced charcuterie meats, but I passed, having already eaten enough animal flesh for the next week.

They had a lovely litany of dessert options. We both opted for the house special, a fruit cream, Ryan with the strawberry and me with the papaya. Think rich ice cream and fresh fruit whipped together until it was the consistency of a milk shake. The creams were presented in large bowled stemware on a large white plate heavily decorated with squirts of raspberry sauce and shakings of ground cinnamon.




One of the interesting things about the dessert service is the waiter came bearing a bottle of crème de cassis (blackberry liqueur), and on our request, poured a generous amount into the fruit creams. I thought the desserts were pretty fabulous.

The desserts, though, led us to a little bit of drama when it was time to pay the check. When we first sat down, we asked one of the waitresses how the pricing thing worked with Restaurant Week, and she said that "everything is included." Now, that's a pretty good deal, considering they usually charge about $30 for their all-you-can eat food at lunch, and R.W. is just $20.07. And, following the Restaurant Week pattern of appetizer, main course, dessert, we had salad bar, meat, and dessert. But, the desserts weren't included! What's more, those little fruit milk shakes were $8.50 each. That additional $17 was almost enough for us to have brought a third person! Ryan chatted with the waitress, though, and talked her in to taking the dessert charges off the check. So, all was well.

Now, it's dinner time, and I'm completely, totally not hungry.