During July and August there was a lull in proceedings in Theatreworld, but fortunately opportunities presented themselves which allowed me to revert to the subject on which I cut my writing teeth – literally – food and drink.
In the interests of transparency I must reveal that this visit was made as the plus one of a friend of mine, who handles the company’s PR and was there to shoot a promotional video, so the experience was not one which the normal ‘walk-in’ customer would get, but I wanted to give you a flavour – sorry – of the establishment.
Fogo De Chão, founded in Brazil in 1979, acquired Leeds favourite, Fazenda, in 2024 and have now rebranded it, but the emphasis is still on the Churrasco (skewered, fire-roasted meat grilled over open embers) experience, as employed by South American gauchos in 19th century, it is combined with rodízio (all you can eat) style service. This gives the genuine Brazilian vibe without having to sit on the ground somewhere in the middle of the Pampas, surrounded by cattle. In fact customers here get more pampered than Pampased.
We began with a Margarita, well, it would have been rude not to, while we perused the menu and I took a stroll around the incredibly varied Market Table stocked, not just with cheese, salads and accompaniments, but also cold and cured varieties of meat. A veritable feast in itself.
This is going to sound odd, but we ordered a bottle of white wine, I was outvoted two to one, which turned out not to be so out of place as the first thing which arrived was the impressive Seafood Tower. Now I am not familiar with the ways of the gaucho – honest – but I doubt that they would have sat around the campfire tackling a two storey stand chock-a-block with Snow Crab Cluster, Lobster Tail, Jumbo King Prawns, Queen Scallops and Baerii Caviar, along with some featherlight pastry puffs and all the trimmings, whilst keeping an eye out for pumas, but I really didn’t care, I was in piscine heaven. Unlike University Challenge, this is a starter for four but was better with just the three of us. In fact I would have quite happily spent an evening on my own, sitting at a window table, with just this and the Sauvignon Blanc, watching the world go by, it was tremendous. No offence to my mates.
Next to arrive was another frutos do mar based dish in Lobster Mac & Cheese. Once again, stunning, but try not to touch the iron dish! The seafood did a great job in cutting through what can easily be a bland creamy sauce, to elevate it to the top level.
Time to bid farewell to fins and shells and hello to hooves and claws. To ease the transition we were treated to Empanada de Wagyu, a pastry, or should that be pasty, containing – you guessed it – wagyu beef. Again delightful with a dipping sauce and small canapés, the names of which escape me but I am an old man and I was on Brazilian overload.
OK, this is where we go hard core. Everything so far had been from the à la carte menu, this next part is the Churrasco. Although the photographs show a selection of the meats on offer, the idea is that you choose your favourite and stick with it. This is not as restrictive as it sounds because all of the tables had more than one customer dining so you can pick one each and do swapsies. As well as a change of food types the experience moves up a gear in the theatricality of the service. Once you have chosen your cut, whether beef, lamb, pork or chicken, it is delivered to your table on huge skewers and carved in front of you. As it is theatrical there is an element of audience participation involved, in that you are given a small pair of tongs so that when the waiter has begun to slice the meat, starting at the top, you hold it using the utensil, so that it doesn’t fold over, and transfer it to your plate. The anticipation is killing.
If you choose the chicken you get a rather large joint with no assistance required.
Here is a selection of meats I ended up with on my plate, all perfectly cooked and served. I obviously shared them with my companions – yeah, right! The idea is that there is a card on your table and, should you want some more – and you will, it was delicious – you place it green side up. Whilst eating, you expose the red side, so as not to end up with a waiter in permanent residence.
To complement the main event, not only is there the Market Table, but you will be delivered hot seasonal vegetables and fries.
Truffle Fries
Pimentas de Cheiro
Banana Asada.
As we were there to experience the taste of Brazil we shared a Feijoada, the traditional black bean stew with sausage and fluffy rice. Delicious.
This is also from the main menu and comes with a visit to the Market Table.
Time for dessert and the showmanship goes into overdrive. Once again we shared a couple, purely in the interest of research you understand. The first was Cheesecake and absolutely incredible. Light as a feather even though it looks somewhat heavy and Tres Leches Cake, Portuguese for Three Milk Cake, which was ceremoniously served with an extra dairy based element, double cream.
It goes without saying that we had a superb evening and, whilst I realise that we were given the five star service by Eleazar and his staff, it didn’t seem that the other customers were treated any different from us. If you are looking for somewhere for a special experience and great food, cooked to perfection you should give it a try.
For more details, menus, booking and opening times, please go to https://fogodechao.uk
Bom apetite
Photographs by Stan Graham
