Rodizio

Hey, if you get a chance a week from tomorrow – on Friday the 25th – you should try to catch the performance at Kingsbury Hall of an outfit called Dance Brazil. They’re a New York-based group that performs, among other things, an amazing combination of martial arts and dance called capoeira. In fact, when I lived in New York City I studied capoeira with Dance Brazil. And if you want to see an amazing spectacle of feet and bodies flying, be sure to catch Dance Brazil on the 25th at Kingsbury Hall.

Well, Dance Brazil’s visit to Salt Lake City reminded me just how much I love Brazilian food. Of course, Brazil is a big country with many types of cuisine – from the crab and shrimp-based dishes of northern Bahia with its luscious coconut and peanut based sauces, to the wide array of grilled meats so popular in the south of Brazil.

For a good – and entertaining – introduction to the food of Brazil I recommend a visit to Rodizio, located in Trolley Square. Rodizio is a type of restaurant that in Brazil is called a churrascaria. These are popular restaurants in places like Rio, where customers pay an all-you-can-eat price and the food just keeps on coming until you surrender and fly your white flag. Or, in the case of Rodizio, a small plastic red stop sign.

At Rodizio, traditionally clad waiters roam the restaurant with long skewers of grilled meats – everything from chicken and sausage to tender cuts of top sirloin called picanha. There’s also a huge assortment of side dishes, salads, and desserts to choose from as well as unique Brazilian-style fruit drinks.

In fact, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend next Friday night than with a Brazilian celebration of dinner at Rodizio and the Kingsbury Hall performance of Dance Brazil. As the Brazilians would say, that would be optimo.