For an Desi website, this review might just be sacrilege, but this place deserves a shout out around the globe…….
A younger cousin to the Fogo’da’chao Brasilian gaucho Chuerrassiera ( porturguese’ for Steakhouse) … it has hit the dining circles of ultra fashionable Miami-Ft.Lauderdale crowd with much aplomb ….
So I landed up there with a date for the scoop on the food… and here we go
The Brazilians have taken over Il Tartufo’s old space on Las Olas, and all I can say is, wow. Chima Brazilian Steakhouse of Uberlandia, gaucho country midway between Brasilia and Sao Paulo, has transformed a rather tired old Florida restaurant into a chic, sleek shrine to carnivores. It very well may be the prettiest or sexiest restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
Open just under two months, Chima (pronounced she-ma) already is drawing crowds. We’re led to our table and immediately greeted by our waiter, Dalvo, a charming fellow who explains the rules of the game. There will be no menu, he tells us (though there is an extensive, international wine list). Instead, anything the kitchen prepares is ours for the asking. He takes the order on palm pilot… no papers here
But first, perhaps a caipirinha made with Brazil’s own cachaça, a sugar-cane-based spirit, or a caipiriosa, same basic recipe but made with less-volatile vodka. A barman wheels over a cart and begins furiously muddling limes and mashing strawberries. Mind you these babies creep up on you real fast
About a dozen meats on enormous churrasco skewers are in constant rotation through the dining rooms, each managed by a waiter who looks for all the world like a gaucho in white shirt, scarf and baggy black bombachas bloused over black boots( brazilan cowboys). The meats are sliced at your table and you’re encouraged to take as much as you like.
Most are beef -- top sirloin, bottom round, filet, strip steak, flank steak -- but there is also pork loin and ribs, chicken drumettes or meat cubes wrapped in bacon, and lamb chops. Even a lovely salmon fillet makes the rounds, but don’t miss the linguica, described accurately enough by Chima as ’’delightful Brazilian pork sausages, seasoned and roasted to perfection.’’ Small dishes of mashed potatoes and creamy, cheesy spinach are brought to the table for us to share.
More sides, acompanhamentos, are on the salad bar, a humongous affair fairly overflowing with stuffed tomatoes, Gorgonzola mousse, tabbouleh, smoked salmon, steak carpaccio, cheeses, olives, fruit and, oh yes, some lettuce too.
There is more food than a Roman wedding feast.. and more meat than your heart can desire.. veggies and vegans stay away..
My tab ended up being…
Dinner for 2 including desserts $130.00 Drinks $30.00 Bottle of KRUG reserva 98 Pinot Nior $88.00 all inclusive with tip $300.00