Authenticity of Fogo De Chao - Essay Example

Fogo de Chao. Authenti relate to the truthfulness of origins, commitments, attributes, devotion, sincerity, and intentions. In philosophy it refers to a given way of dealing with the external world, being truthful to internal rather than the external ideas. Authenticity (living history), presentation in a living history, or in a reenactment that is historical, a measure of the closeness an item of material culture, or actions of an individual, is to the known records relating to what was used or done in the depicted time period. Fogo de Chao is a fine dining, full service Brazilian steakhouse churrascaria. The restaurant has 25 locations where it operates in the United States of America and 9 other locations in Brazil. The meaning of Fogo de Chao is ‘fire on the ground’ and summarizes the method of traditional gaucho of meat roasting over an open fire. The restaurant has many parts; part gluttony, part spectacle and mostly red meat. Fogo de Chao is a dining experience that is interactive where meats are carved tableside from skewers waiters who are dressed in Brazilian garb. Substitute to ordering, dinners have the liberty of trying anything and everything. Typically located in a space that is cavernous, the table meat-fest goes hand in hand with a huge and self-serve salad bar that is varied and the menu explains the different options of meat and provides drinks lists, mainly Brazilian caipirinhas. It is not hard to dismiss Fogo de Chao as a gimmick, other than it is actually very authentic. Not only is this all-someone can eat the style of table skewer of dining is popular in Brazil, where it is called riodizio (a restaurant serving riodizio is a churrascaria), however, Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian chain that is popular that immigrated to the United States rather than an Americanized take on that food of the nation. A lot of the servers are from are from Brazil, and nearly all of them worked in the other locations initially. The services are very impressive, given that the formula depends on each and every waiter’s responsibility for his/her meat(s) of the night, starting from prepping to cooking in the giant that are behind the scene s rotisseries used for serving. In addition to delivery and carve food, they supervise it from seasoning up to delivery at the optimum time. In all the locations in the United States are different, however, they are all upscale in terms of furnishing and decoration, with a lot of a fine than a look that is buffet, with a separate bar, distinctively a glass walled wine cellar that is impressive; the big list stretches from reasonable Brazillian malbecs to Grand Cru Bordeaux (Hoekstra, et al. pg 89). Fogo de Chao has successfully managed to bringing the culinary methods and taste of southern Brazil to in all the locations in its home country. It is among the very few brands that has been able to make a name for itself through expanding into the United States rather than the vice versa. Its growth and menu commitments have demonstrated a savvy for market differentiation. It presents itself as customer experience who wants to dine the same way as southern Brazilians gauchos do. They mimic the have been able to mimic the southern Brazilian cowboy farming culture in the U.S. It provides a prix-fixe menu which allows customers access to the market table, where salads, cheeses and produce are, and customers can choose from a variety of meats, that are prepared in the authentic gaucho grilling style that is called churrasco. A lot of the restaurants’ chefs, even in the U.S. grew up on southern Brazil’s farms and have been able to work their way up from Brazil to become managers in the United States. In addition, each and every location has a head gaucho chef (these are more than just chefs, they are actually caretakers for the culture of cuisine, who are imported directly from southern Brazil to continue the tradition of their people) who is particularly responsible for ensuring the food meets the expectations and culinary techniques are properly intergrated (Oliveira, et al. pg 63). According to the director of marketing Andy Feldmann, the brand that was launched in 1979 has remained to be relevant and fresh today because there are very few restaurants have been able to serve their style of cuisine to their level of authenticity. The restaurant has also been able to pay a close attention to what resonates with the customers over time, so whenever a new product launches, it is the culmination of weeks of feedback. The restaurant does not just attract a portion of customers, but its customer base cuts across nations as long as one is a fun of meat they usually find themselves at home at this restaurant. Fogo de Chao describes itself in the menu as a restaurant that offers Brazilian churrascaria dining format, where the guests enjoy fire toasted meats that are skewed and served by gaucho chefs throughout their meal at the same time dining on sections from a very large buffet of fresh vegetables, gourmet and Brazilian side dishes. The main languages that are spoken at the restaurant are English and Spanish. English is used in all the communications of the restaurant stating from its website and the menu of the restaurant. A lot of customers experience excellent dining experience; they say that the salad bar is very impressive and the roasted meat excellent. The food never stops coming and the service is great. Many say it is their best dining experience ever, they can’t stop talking about the restaurant. They highly recommend the restaurant to everyone who has never been to the restaurant. It is worth the trip and the money. The parking may be bad but they believe it is worth the experience as for a brief period of time you feel like you are in Brazil for a meal and back to America when you step out of the door. This place is just that perfect. As for the Brazilians, they say whenever they are in the restaurant, they have a feeling of being at home as everything in their just reminds them of Brazil. From the research, I believe that the restaurant has been a success with its authenticity in the United States as everything has gone has it was anticipated when the first location was opened in the country. Work cited. Hoekstra, David, Housen A. Van, and Laurie Levy. The Unofficial Guide to Chicago. Chichester: John Wiley, 2007. Print. Oliveira, Alberto J. Dicionário Gaúcho: Termos, Expressões, Adágios, Ditados E Outras Barbaridades. Porto Alegre: Ed. AGE, 2003. Print. Read More