Swords of meat in Ipanema -- Carretao Churrascaria

I have been meaning to write this entry for months now (unbelieveable that it has now been MONTHS, how fast time flies...)

One of my favorite meals we had in Brazil was at our second churrascaria -- Carretao Churrascaria. We decided to take the late flight back from Brazil so we could have a full day on our final day. Sadly, the storms rolled in and the weather wasn't exactly ideal for beaching or meandering around. So what was the next best option? Lounging around at lunch of course ... at least as long as possible.

We decided to go to Carretao in part based on recommendations and in part because it was across from Shopping Leblon (and nestled amongst numerous other stores). We hadn't shopped very much during this trip and what better time than right before we planned to leave!

We didn't know what to expect when we arrived at Carretao -- although it was fairly late for lunch, the entire restaurant was full and bustling. Long tables were filled with families celebrating birthdays, couples were dining on the sides hailing over the waiters, an electric model train chugged along the ceiling, and the general mood was energized and cheery. I secretly was happy to see the waiters carrying around swords of meat (as oppose to just presenting the food on wooden planks as at Marius from our first foray into Rio churrascarias) and was slightly mesmerized by the wide selection of food.

(My first plate...)

In any case, we were seated at a side table, right next to the buffet (hello sushi! 20 types of fresh salad! bacalhau a bras -- a Portuguese dish of codfish stew with potatoes, olives, and egg! fresh shrimp! hello gigantic leg of serrano ham!) and right next to where the waiters popped out of the kitchen with their sizzling cuts of meat. We had our trusty cards to flip over to "green" for "please feed us with lots of meaty goodness!" or to "red" for "must... take... a... break." We had our cold beverages and ordered our side dishes (sweet plaintains, rice and beans, polenta...). We were set.

We ventured to the buffet to start with and stocked up on a bit of everything. I started off with some sushi (never can get enough of it), roasted red peppers, hearts of palm, fresh steamed shrimp (see above!)... We were sure however not to stock up TOO much (and with the knowledge that we could always come back for more, we felt like we could indulge more as the afternoon wore on...).

It was time to flip to green! Almost instantaneously, three waiters arrived at our tables (it reminded me somewhat of when first sitting down for dim sum and the swarms of carts that come to your table...).

The selection of grilled items as extensive. Standouts included the picanha (my favorite -- salty slice loin served with garlic), maminha (beef tri-tip roast, best medium rare or rare!), Argentine contra-filet, miolo de alactra (rump steak), pork ribs (see right)... The meats, to me, were perhaps juicier than those at Marius. There were a number of more unusual dishes including grilled chicken hearts (many many tiny hearts on each skewer!).

One of my favorite surprises was the grilled pineapple -- the grill technique brought out the extreme sweetness of the pineapple with a bit of tartness to wake up the tastebuds. It was perfect after eating so much protein.

(The heavenly flavorful pineapple)

The experience was different than that at Marius - but not necessarily better or worse. I'm glad that I tried both of the churrascarias and I would urge other Rio visitors to try out multiple churrascarias to find one to suit their liking (that is, if you can find time between all the other appetizing restaurants!).

Overall, I thought that Carretao was a very satisfying place to end our Brazilian adventure. We got to order our "chopps" that we learned about on our first day, sample Portuguese and Brazilian treats, and enjoy a relaxing afternoon out of the cold rain. The prices were reasonable as far as churrascarias go in Rio, the service was friendly and helpful, and the food was delicious (and offered some pleasing surprises along the way).

Carretao Churrascaria (Ipanema)
Rua Visconde de Piraja, 112
Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
Phone: 55 (21) 2267.3965

The best day in Brazil - Morro Branco

Now that the days are starting to get colder and snow seems to be "imminent," I can't help but daydream about warmer beach days. It is hard to believe that the Brazil trip was almost two months ago now, but I still think about my favorite day in Brazil. So, consider this a little cold weather break...

During our stay in Fortaleza, Brazil, we decided to take a day trip to one of the outside "beach towns." We heard that they were a must when visiting Fortaleza (...and, to be honest, we were growing a bit bored of Fortaleza... four days there definitely was plenty ... probably more than plenty). After some discussion, we decided to go to the Morro Branco, an area about 1.5 - 2 hours away from Fortaleza and famous for its colorful sand cliffs.

Morro Branco was, hands down, my favorite adventure during my trip to Brazil. We arrived at the "dune buggy" spot and were paired with our very own dune buggy driver. He didn't speak a lot of English, but was friendly, energetic, and pointed out all the important sites to us... he drove us to the town of Beberibe and where we were greeted by local tour guides.

Our tour guide, although not very fluent in English (and we knew very very very little Portuguese, except maybe "obrigado" and "bom dia") was quite charming, and led us through Beberibe, showed us the vistas of the sand cliffs, introduced us to a local craftsman who was creating a sand masterpiece -- the landscape of Morro Branco in a large glass jar. Our final stop on this tour was the "labyrinth."

I LOVED it and found it just breathtaking. I wondered to myself at every turn why had I never heard of Morro Branco before -- the labyrinth essentially was part of the sand cliffs and, over time, water had eroded a path through the cliffs. The colors were so vibrant, especially under the bright sun and against the blue sky. I could have stayed there all day. It was so peaceful, quiet, and awe-inspiring.

At the end of the labyrinth, we were greeted by our dune buggy driver and AWAY WE WENT! We zipped down the beach, along the ocean, with twists and turns, up and down hills. We ended up at these HUGE sand dunes and it was like nature's rollercoaster. At the bottom of the dunes was an expansive lagoon where we were left to go swimming for half an hour... After our quick dip, our dune buggy took us back to the beach, to feast on lunch.

This whole time, you were probably wondering (if you even got to this point) where is the food in this story? Our meal at Morro Branco was the perfect end to what was an unexpectedly perfect day. We found ourselves sitting about 15 feet from the ocean, at a table on the beach. We sipped on caipirinhas ($2 a caipirinha!) ... dug our feet into the sand... watched the fishermen bring their boat in from the sea with their catches.

We purused the menu, quite extensive with many seafood options and settled on starting with a bowl of crab soup to share and then fresh steamed shrimp with garlic and a mixed platter with lobster, grilled fish, and more shrimp!

We played on the beach while we waited for our food to come, picked up some shells, checked out the fishermen's catches. When the food came, we were blown away by the sheer amount of food we ordered. All of the dishes came with rice, beans, and farofa (below!) (toasted manioc/yuca flour -- found everywhere in Brazil!).

I dug straight into the shrimp -- so sweet and succulent -- and then the lobster -- and then... the fish. The fish was my favorite part. So fresh, flaky, and flavorful. The skin was crispy and the meat, although flaky, was not dry. I could have eaten the entire thing.

With full bellies, we rested on the beach for another hour and then began the journey back to Fortaleza (promptly falling asleep in the van). If you're ever in Ceara, please go to Morro Branco! It was simply a magical, beautiful place and well worth the journey.

Happy Pumpkin Day! - Pumpkin Gnocchi in Brazil

Now, when you think of Brazil, you think...beaches, ocean, teeny swimsuits, and, well, warmth. But, while I was there this past month, it was cold. At least, part of the time. And rainy. Brazil is coming off of winter and in the midst of spring right now...

The night we arrived in Rio, we were tired ... and starving. It was a bit chilly and all I wanted was something warm and delicious. We ended up at Bar d'Hotel at the Marina All Suites in Leblon/Ipanema. The food there was fabulously fresh and even better, deliciously decadent. After much debate, I went with my craving and got the pumpkin gnocchi. It was covered in this creamy cheese sauce, had crunchy onions on it, and each gnocchi melted on my tongue.

Delicious success!

No coffee, I'll take a Guarana Antarctica please

I first had Guarana Antarctica at a Brazilian restaurant in DC... The waiter suggested it to my friends and I as an alternative soda option. We figured why not -- my fellow diners weren't very thrilled with the taste, but I actually liked the sweet, apple-like taste of it.

So of course when I saw it in Brazil, I was rather excited. Let's be honest, I had no idea what was actually in these guarana drinks but eventually I started drinking them daily and my mom also ordered them regularly. We sampled the Guarana Antarctica and the Kuat Guarana sodas (as a side note -- AmBev produces Guarana Antarctica (the most popular brand in Brazil, which amongst other things, hosts the Guarana Antaractica Street Festival and paired up with Brazilian designer Osklen in 2005) and Coca Cola sells Kuat Guarana).

Out of curiosity this morning, I googled Guarana to find the Guarana Antarctica website. For some reason, I knew it sounded familiar (even before drinking it in DC), but wasn't sure why. And then I realized why... a friend had mentioned it to me months ago (perhaps a year or more now) as an alternative to caffeine. Guarana contains a high level of guaranine, a substance with similar characteristics as caffeine. In fact, my brief googling has revealed to me that Guarana Antarctica has a caffeine content equivalent to most energy drinks and the berry has two to three times the caffeine of a coffee bean! Looking back, I don't recall feeling the effects of the caffeine (but maybe is more of an indication that caffeine is affecting me less and less... oops). Aside from the energizing qualities of guarana, some believe that guarana has medicinal effects.

Whatever the effects of guarana, I enjoyed it. Although I probably won't seek it out, if I find it on a local menu, I'm almost certain to try it again.

Carnivorous much? Churrascaria Take One

So, I've plunged into the state of the "meat coma" on several occasions -- our location of choice was always Fogo de Chao for the infamous meat coma. "Avoid the salad bar! It's a trap!" were always the warnings before heading to Fogo - don't get me wrong, the salad bar at Fogo is QUITE delicious, but that is its danger ... filling up too much before settling down with the little red and green card, for the onslaught (ok, no pun intended) of men with swords of meat.

So of course, I had to go to a churrascaria in Brazil. We asked around, trying to find one that wasn't OVERLY touristy to go to, but one that would also satisfy our steak cravings. We decided on Marius (note: as oppose to Porcao, a chain that has also found itself in Miami and New York), known for both their meat AND their seafood. We kept in mind the warnings again - avoid the salad bar! Don't fill up! We take a cab up Copacabana Beach to Marius - it was pouring rain and the gentlemen at Marius happily brought us from our taxi under umbrellas. And in we walk... and what a surprise. Of course I had in my head images of Fogo - dark wood, spacious surroundings, very classic looking... and of course I had images in my head of, well, a steakhouse. At least an American steakhouse? Little did I realize that I actually had these visions... didn't really realize it until I entered Marius. Marius is wonderfully ... kitchy?

I loved how it looked. We sat in the room with high ceilings that had all sorts of housewares hanging from the ceiling - old car parts, an old bed frame, pots, pans...flags of random countries... and then a wall covered in colorful porcelain plates...
and then the bathroom floor covered in semi-precious gemstones (unpolished but identifiable... i loved it... for someone that was once very interested in geology, this was a very unexpected, yet pleasant surprise). Another room looked to be covered in shells.

In any case, I digress. The waiter asks us, meat or seafood. We exclaim, in unison no less, "meat!" We are seated and are invited to try to the buffet first and then the steak/meat would follow. We were familiar with this procedure and dutifully inspected the "salad bar." Much to our delight, the salad bar was not so much "salad" but a seafood bar. Think piles of raw oysters, crab legs, broiled lobster, raw calamari, raw shrimp, steamed shrimp, grilled fish, sauteed mussels... the list could go on and on. Irresistable... and resist we could not, so we filled our plates with seafood (and I added some asparagus and hearts of palm to my pile...). When we arrived back at our table, our plates were stacked two or three high, in preparation for switching out plates. We dined on our seafood, without any regret although our stomachs were filling up... and then the meat started to arrive. One chef in particular kept coming around with a cutting board of different cuts of meat... there were no swords here. I admit, the tourist in me wanted to see swords. But the presentation was still very nice and the meat itself very good. I mistakenly said that I liked my meat "medium" ... medium resulted in well-done meat every time and at some point, I just stopped getting meat for myself, and ate off my companions "rare" (read: medium to medium rare) cuts. We had many parts of the cow - sirloin, filet mignon, rib eye etc... chicken legs, pork loin, and sausages also came around. The meats were generally tasty, albeit a bit salty and some dry (we found that much of the food in Brazil is saltier than we would normally prefer). The selection was less so (meat-wise) compared to Fogo, but the smaller selection of meat was made up for by the seafood selection (although I will admit that I missed the bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped steak that I always looked for at Fogo).

Next time, we decided we would do it differently. One of us (or perhaps two) would get the "seafood" option and the other two (or one) of us would get the "meat" option. We spied on the tables near us that got "seafood" and instead of having steak brought to them, different types of seafood made with many different preparations were brought to them. Think the buffet but even more.

There was also a dessert bar... I wandered over there to check it out, but my belly was way too full. The dessert selection didn't look as promising, plus it costed extra. One thing I wished I would have tried there was a caipirnha... I've yet to have an actual one here (I don't count the teeny one with the feijoadas), and there was this push tray of glasses and caipirinha ingredients next to our table. Marius actually has their own cachaca. Next time. We've seen churrascarias everywhere in Rio and Fortaleza. I'm not sure if they are actually filled with tourists or locals... or perhaps both. Marius seemed to have a mix of company -- we arrived on the earlier side, and two large tables of who appeared to be locals were finishing up birthday celebrations, before several waves of non-locals arrived. We head back to Rio after our stay in Fortaleza... I admit that I am curious to try another churrascaria. Perhaps we will venture back. As for now, we are eyeing some of the restaurants in Ipanema for more modern fare... We'll have to see.

A Day's Worth of Eating - Feijoada

It was our first day in Brazil - we flew in overnight and arrived at 8 am that morning. With little more than two cantaloupe slices and a yogurt in our stomachs, we were in search of lunch. We had heard about the "national Brazilian" dish - feijoada - and definitely had it in our plans to try it... We had also heard that it was only served on Saturdays (the day we arrived) and that it was... rather filling. There was one place though that offered feijoada every day - very uniquely named, Casa de Feijoada, so we thought that we could always go the next night... In any case, equipped with no other knowledge than a basic idea of the pronounciation, "fay-zho-a-da," we ended up at Casa de Feijoada that afternoon. We had someone that was showing us around Rio and we asked that he take us to a low key restaurant that served traditional Brazilian fare, with plans to enjoy a churrascaria that night. He dropped us off at Casa.

No worries! We were quite hungry and some solid food would probably be a good plan before our (rainy) journeys to the Corcovado (the Christ statue) and Sugarloaf mountain that afternoon. We were ushered into this surprisingly small and cozy restaurant, to a corner table by the window. Immediately, food started to appear at our table... olives, toast, teeny little pots of black bean soup (the waiter demonstrated that we should be sipping this soup)... soon after appeared scoops of fried little sausages (salami!) (delicious)... and quite soon after (and notably after we ordered our very tall beers), the waiter appeared with two glass bottles. One had an orangey colored liquid in it and the other a pale green. We spied these at other tables, poured into little sipping glasses. The orangey colored liquid turned out to be passion fruit liquor... or the passion fruit version of a mini, high-powered caipirinha. Caipirinha... mmmm. The pale green liquid was "lime" flavored, and the flavor that I normally associated with the delicious caipirinha.


We tried the "traditional" feijoada (although I admit that I don't know what the "non-traditional" feijoada would have included) -- our waiter asked us repeatedly if we wanted it for three people... naturally we thought well yes, we are three people, so we would want three feijoadas. But after we agreed to three, we started to look around at the other tables, and became worried by the sheer amount of food coming to these other tables. Did they also order one for each person? Were they sharing one feijoada amongst five people? By this time, it was too late, because the parade of food began again. To our table appeared white rice, red beans, "collard" greens (bright green cabbage), yuca fries, "farofa" (more on this later), pork rinds, and two large bowls of meat. One bowl contained a medley of meats -- salted pork, sausage, bacon, dried beef, pork ribs... the other bowl also contained a medley of meats, but other parts of the pig... ears, feet, perhaps tail? I generally stuck with the first bowl (I am a bit squeamish about certain animal parts) but my family dove right into the second bowl.

We found the feijoada to be quite tasty (a bit salty...but as you'll see, that's the theme with our Brazilian food experience), but overwhelming in quantity! After feeling slightly tipsy from the "chopp" (beer) and the mini caipirinhas (and very little food for breakfast) and then filling our tummies with pounds of food, we had no idea how we were going to run around Rio's famous mountains all afternoon. Dessert, at least for me, gave me an extra boost of sugar-filled energy... yes, they look like three blobs of unknown origin (or baby food like), but I actually found them very flavorful. My favorite was the dulce de leche (mmm, so happy to find this everywhere in Brazil!) -- this is the bottom one. The others were (I think) banana (left) and papaya (right).

By the time we waddled out of Casa de Feijoada, the restaurant was filled with other guests happily eating away. I can see why this is usually a one-day a week meal... it is an experience within itself and could surely fill you up for an entire weekend and perhaps an entire week.