Fogo de Chão is a chain of Churrascaria restaurants which specialize in what I describe as Brazilian BBQ. No, my description does not do this kind of restaurant justice. It is the place for Atkins Diet feast! Grilled meats keep on coming until you have to say "Uncle! Food Won!" And for NYC Restaurant week, I decided to take RQS to their Midtown Manhattan outpost to feast like there was no tomorrow.
One of the problems of taking the train into Grand Central is that it is awkward to make an easy transfer (in midtown) to a "B Division" subway line to access one of the former IND system routes' subway stations. I could make it to Grand Central Terminal easily. But to get to a station associated with the 6th or 8th Avenue lines, I either have to make an awkward transfer involving a block's walk underground, an out-of-system transfer involving a 2 block walk underground, or simply take surface transit to the desired location. Given that I had time to kill and mistakenly forgot one transfer point, I ended up walking from 42nd Street and Park Avenue to 53rd Street and 5th Avenue (give or take a few hundred feet).
My timing ended up being perfect - Both RQS and I arrived at the restaurant at 6:00 pm. And from there, we went inside to feast. RQS had forgotten that I had planned to get a Mani-Pedi earlier in the day, so she was a little surprised to see me arrive in Marian mode. Yet, the dress I was wearing had grown on her a little. (She said that if I buy more dresses like this, that I will have to try them on before committing to them.) After getting enough salad and veggies to empty a farm (I have to mention how good their Caesar Salad is here - I could have feasted on that alone), the meat began to come. And boy did it come! Chicken, Lamb, Sausages, various cuts of Beef all came around to our table, and within an hour and a half we were stuffed like Thanksgiving Turkeys.
All too soon, it was time to leave. I went back to Grand Central the long way, and she was able to take one train home. By 9:30 pm, both of us were at our homes and ready to go to bed. Both of us enjoyed this mid week get together. I think we'll do it more often if I can find a few excuses to do so.
