This weekend's Dining Adventure was the elegant Rodizio Grill.

We showed up on Saturday afternoon, around 1:00. The restaurant never got busy while we were there, possibly the $10 - $15 range for meals is a bit steep for Denver Diners during the lunch hour. The restaurant had been recommended to us by a coworker of my Dining Companion, and we were prepared for an adventure.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a "Brazilian Steakhouse" restaurant but since I'm back on The Diet and since I was told I'd be served a lot of protein in nifty, sample-sized portions, I was game.

To begin with, the location was delightful. The lower end of LoDo, with Union Station footnoting the north end of the 16th Street Mall promenade, is rapidly becoming a favorite area of mine. Not only is Tattered Cover's LoDo location part of the neighborhood, but it's dotted with restaurants and coffee shops in abundance and home to some of downtown's most interesting (if unsung) buildings.

We picked a perfect day for it, as well. Warm, but not too warm. A hint of a breeze. Mostly blue skies with a rare, high drift of clouds to help keep the heat down. If I hadn't been so hungry by the time we reached the restaurant, I might have wanted to walk around the block a couple of times just to enjoy the summer air.

Since I was hungry and my Dining Companion was starving, we elected to eat.

Once inside, we were shown promptly to an immaculately set table, glistening with white cloth and spread with the usual utensils and, my first hurdle, some kind of tongs. I foresaw Social Embarrassment in my immediate future.

There were no menus. Our waitperson recited the three dining options available to us.

There was the "Full Rodizio," an all-you-can-eat salad bar and unlimited meats. Then the "Limited Rodizio" with full salad bar and a sampler of any two meats. Last, but certainly not least, the Salad Bar option.

We immediately realized that the Full Rodizio was the only way to go.

We placed our drink orders (tea and water, we're not boozers, especially at lunch) and took off to examine the salad bar.

I saw the Feijoada and the Arroz Branco (Black bean stew and Brazilian white rice) but was unable to identify them, so I passed. In hindsite, I do regret that.

I dove in with enthusiasm on some of the other dishes, though. I was mindful of warnings about pacing myself, and took only a couple of bites of each dish:

Couve (collard greens and bacon, sautéed)
Salada de Frango (chicken salad)
Salada Rodizio (Rodizio salad)
Pastrami de Peru e Azeitonas (turkey pastrami and olives)
Caesar salad
Salada de Siri (crab salad)
Mixed fruits

They were all good and certainly at least a touch above the general "salad bar" offerings in Denver restaurants. Everything was very fresh and the presentation was worthy of praise in itself. (There were four times as many dishes as I've described here. For instance, quail's eggs were on the buffet. I eyed them for a moment, then decided that that was more adventure than I was prepared to undertake.)

The Rodizio salad had a lovely crunch with caramelized walnuts in a smooth, light dressing over mixed greens. It was a touch less flavorful than I hoped, the Caesar was more to my taste, but I'd certainly make a point of having both of them again when I return. Both salads were at a lovely temperature, not warm, but not so cold the greens seemed to be frozen.

Couve is a dish known to the USofA southern states but probably not their northern neighbors. It's a nice dish. The collard greens have a slightly bitter flavor, but the bacon comes across with a smooth, smoky taste that complements them nicely. It's not a dish I can eat a lot of, but the three of four bites I had were very good.

The Salada de Siri was merely...uneventful. I'm not a major fan of seafood salad, though, so that may be my failing.

The mixed fruits were noteworthy in that all of the fruit had been ripe before being cut for the table. Too often I find the fruit offerings in restaurants to be hard, bitter, and green. I didn't have that problem this time. If I hadn't been saving space for the rest of the experience, I could easily have gone back for seconds or thirds.

By the time I'd sampled only two or three of the above-mentioned items, the waitperson was back with the appetizers I hadn't realized were included with our meal. (All three options are accompanied by the Rodizio appetizers.)

The appetizers, like everything else we ate that day (except the salad bar) had been cooked fresh when we sat down to order.

We were served:
Bolinho de Arroz (spiced rice, rolled into a ball and fried)
Pastel (flakey pastry with a meat filling)
Mandioca Frita (Fried yuka root)
Polenta (fried in sticks with dipping sauce)
Banana Frita (sugar/cinnamon covered fried banana)

Sadly, the fried items were simply...fried items. Not many foods can stand up to being fried without developing a sort of bland taste and texture. Once I got past the fried layer, the rice was lovely. The Mandioca Frita was delicious, but I've never had yuka before and I'd no idea what to expect.

And...speaking of the unexpected...I certainly didn't expect a sweet, that early in the meal. The banana was a big surprise. It wasn't overcooked, it had been fried just long enough to give the coating a dark color (to which the cinnamon contributed) and to soften the fruit itself without turning it into paste. My Dining Companion, who has a sweet tooth and is very fond of bananas, surprised me by rejecting this dish. I'm not a huge banana fan, but I had a couple of bites. The flavor was interesting. Cooking the banana intensified its flavor without losing complexity.

The service was leisurely. We never felt ignored, but we didn't feel rushed either. We had plenty of time to visit the salad bar two or three times, if we'd wanted to, but two seconds after we signaled that we were ready to move on, the first meat course arrived.

Signaling was part of the fun. You were given three blocks, green, yellow, and then red, glued together in a stack. When you wanted the Grill Servers to stop by your table, you put the green block uppermost. Whenever a server brought a new course from the kitchen he (or, "they" in our case, since we had a trainee server being monitored by a more experienced employee) stopped by your table, explained what he was carrying, and asked you if you wanted it. (When you had enough for the moment, you turned the red block uppermost and they didn't stop. And then, when you were done, you laid the stack on its side.

We signaled, a server stopped by.

Coracao. Grilled chicken hearts.

We passed.

Next up, Assado, Brazilian pot roast. We both tried it. This was my Dining Companion's favorite dish of the day. My opinion was initially not so positive; by accident my first serving was all fat. I agreed that the chunk of potato was beautifully cooked and very flavorful but it wasn't until we got a second chance at the Assado later in the meal that I was able to taste the fork-tender meat. It had to have been slow-cooked for hours, judging by the way it wrapped itself gently around my fork. Lightly flavored, the strongest was the delicate taste of garlic, and beautifully moist, I could easily have made a meal off of that alone. It was lovely.

Of course, I felt that way about almost everything I tried.

Next up was Picanha, top sirloin. This is where the tongs came in. The meat server makes a slice in the steak, you grab the edge with your tongs, and then he finishes cutting off your slice. I got it wrong at first, naturally (the prophesied embarrassment), but I soon got the hang of it.

The menu on-line describes the Picanha as "sophisticated" and that's the perfect word. My mental notes got as far as Oh. My God. Seconds later I was calculating just how big of a glutton I was willing to be. I contemplated tripping the Grill Servers the next time they passed my table, but, as my Dining Companion said repeatedly, "you have to pace yourself," so I held back.

The presentation of the meat was as balanced as everything else. The Picanha, which I would have thought impossible to surpass, was followed by Peru Com Bacon, tender lumps of turkey, wrapped in bacon, and roasted over a slow fire.

I haven't been able to bear turkey since I ate it daily for six months when I was dieting, but I ate this. I ate it again when they brought it around a second time, and I'd have eaten a third helping, if it had been offered. It probably helps that the strongest flavor was that of bacon, but it was a gorgeous mouthful any way you looked at it.

The next offering was Lombo, a marinated pork loin. Mild, not at all salty, and as tender as the other meats we'd tried.

Then we were treated to Linguica, a pork sausage. It was moist without being greasy, flavorful without being so spicy that it overwhelmed the rest of the meal, and very tender. Definitely a '10'. When the chance for seconds came around later, I happily accepted.

At this point, my Dining Companion complained of getting full and returned to the salad bar for more fruit. I accepted the Grill Servers' fruit offering instead, warm, sweet Abacaxi, roasted pineapple. It was sweet beyond sweet with some kind of glaze, but the tartness of the pineapple (even the ripest pineapple has that tangy flavor) kept it from being cloying.

My only regret was that it hadn't been served when I still had some of the Lombo on my plate. Ordinarily, pork and pineapple make a great combination. It would have been interesting to see how Rodizio's pork and glazed pineapple complemented each other.

Next were chicken thighs, redolent with rosemary. Do I have to repeat that the meat was tender and moist?

The last fresh meat offering was Fraldinha, beef tenderloin. Mmmm. My favorite cut of meat and they did it justice.

There was a grilled veggie course, as well,Legumes Com Parmesao, grilled green peppers, onion, and two kinds of squash, all with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

It was after this vegetable course that the second meat courses came by. While my Dining Companion toyed with a few pieces of fresh fruit, I went through most of the meat menu for the second time. My Dining Companion accepted a second serving of the Assado. I accepted seconds on everything.

I could have gone on...there are few limits to my gluttony, but at the last moment, common sense held me back. We tipped the serving blocks on their side, leaned back, and sighed happily.

Moments later, our waitperson was at the table, asking if we'd like dessert.

If you're going to pig out, then pig out, I always say.

"What have you got?" we asked.

She wheeled up a trolley and started naming the dishes. My Dining Companion and I knew which one we wanted the moment we heard the description.

I've forgotten the name, but it was a warm cinnamon pastry with a cream/egg custard filling. On the side, a scoop of cold, vanilla ice cream, and the entire concoction was drizzled with caramel. An additional decorative border of chocolate finished the plate.

We waited a few minutes for this to arrive (the pastries, like everything else, were cooked when we ordered them) and gently digested the first part of our meal.

About the time we were looking around for it, the dish arrived. Two forks.

My sweet tooth is not large. I contented myself with one spoonful of ice cream and three or four bites of the unusual (but delicious) pastry.

We lingered over our so-swanky beverages of iced tea and water for a couple more minutes, then made our way back out into the Denver sunshine.

Two very happy hours, we'd spent in the restaurant, and I promise it seemed less than half that long. (I did, however, decide to skip dinner that evening.)

It's a leisurely dining experience, but I enjoyed it enormously. Now, all I need to do is to find someone willing to go back with me. (My Dining Companion claims she won't be ready to revisit the scene for at least a year, but I'd love to go back soon.)

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