If you hear what sounds like cattle "mooing"...

then it's probably coming from me. Yes, as of about 9 PM this evening, I am 75% beef (another 10% is lamb).

Tonight was one of those rare nights when Amy and I actually get to go on a date. So, we went to a wonderful restaurant that I'd heard about on the local radio a couple of weeks ago: Fogo De Chao. It's a Brazilian-style Churrascaria (in fact, they have several branches in Brazil), and it was an unbelievable, unique dining experience.

Basically, you sit down, and they provide you with a little round card that looks like a coaster. One side is red, and the other is green. You turn the green side up when you want meat, and the red side up when you want a break. Wandering around the restaurant are five or six waiters carrying skewers of various roasted meats (my favorite was the filet mignon wrapped in smoky bacon). They come to your table, when the green side of your card is face up, and slice off pieces of meat. You're provided with a small pair of tongs to assist in pulling the meat off of the skewer.

All of the meats are fire roasted and deliciously seasoned. There were small lamp chops, the aforementioned filet mignon wrapped in bacon, chiken wrapped in bacon, beef in a variety of seasonings, sausages, and pork loin. By the time that they brought the pork loin and sausages out, I was already so full that I couldn't bear the thought of taking another bite of meat. :( Amy claimed that my face was that of a child in a candy store, scanning the restaurant for the next delicious piece of roasted meat. I was forlorn when I was too full to try the pork loin or sausages. I guess I'll just have to go another time (in the distant future... it turns out that this is a very expensive dining experience, but hey, it's all you can eat meat!).

Alongside the abundance of meat, there is a well stocked salad bar, and they bring side dishes of fried plantains, mashed potatoes, and (what we think were) yucca fries. Also, they provided a small basket of tiny cheesy choux puff muffins.

The service is unlike anything I was accustomed to. There is no real waiter per se. Rather, there is a crew of waiters and hosts that are wandering the floor, constantly vigilant to the needs of the guests. If they see that your water is low, they fill it; need more sides... not any more: there you go. "How's your dinner? Is there anything I can get for you?" It's very comfortable because, as Amy pointed out, you don't really have to establish any sort of relationship with a single waiter. Everyone is attentive to your needs and nothing goes unnoticed for long, but at the same time, the service is very unobtrusive. You'll be sitting there, and a hand will reach down to pick some crumbs off the table, only to disappear as quickly as it appeared (note: the hand was attached to a waiter; a disembodied hand would have been very obtrusive - especially one that can materialize and vanish with a will of its own).

Well, I have never had a dining experience like it. We topped everything off with a light dessert. Amy had creme brulee, and I had the tres leches cake. A nice sweet end to a wonderful dinner.