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THE BIG BUFFALO By Marty Martindale
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Yes. Boizao, (pronounced “Boy-ZOW,” meaning “big Buffalo”) brings churrasca to Tampa, and those gauchos don’t serve buffalo meat on their big, sizzling skewers. We looked forward to our first Tampa Boizao visit, as years earlier, we had feasted on feijoada at Impanema on a Saturday then left our Copa Palace suite early on Sunday to take in Rio’s bizarre Hippie Fair. It wasn’t easy avoiding the festively-dressed Bahian ladies offering of acarajes. However, we had to save room for our first churrascaria which turned out to be a wonderful experience! Now it’s 2007, and churrasco comes to Tampa’s busy Westshore business district. Centered in its immense dining room, surrounded by private dining rooms, is a generous buffet of some 45 delicious offerings of fresh vegetables, salads, cheeses and preserved meats. Boizão Steakhouse features a “Rodizo,” or all-around style of service from highly-charged gaucho carvers, dressed in traditional knee-length “pantalones” with stout Brazilian-style belts. These energetic young men come bearing slowly roasted, skewered, hot, prime meats, 14 of them, to your table. They serve what looks best to you right onto your plate. The most popular choice is: Picanha, cut from the rump area of the steer, two versions, regular or garlic-infused. All are slow-roasted over charcoal. Here’s the whole array:
Filet Mignon, with or without bacon All this fascinating food action is under your control each time you turn your green or red, “Sim” or “No” card. Take breathers, check the buffet table again. Then resume. Beef? Pork! Chicken! Lamb! Savory sausage! It’s up to you, your whim. You call the shots. Enjoy! Gaucho-clad servers at Boizao assume a sense of responsibility for pleasing the patrons they served. Each server is in charge of one type of meat all evening through all shades of doneness. The constants at each table are delicious puffy cheese muffins, just-right mashed potatoes and crispy, yet soft, deep-fried bananas, welcome palate cleansers. After dinner, when the conversation’s usually at its best, a waiter brings around a festive decanter of Licor 43, or Cuaranta y Tres, a special vanilla and herb liqueur. He serves it from a decorative, frozen, fruit-embedded decanter surrounding the bottle. Solid desserts were tempting even for well-filled stomachs. Their simplest and most sympathetic to over-indulgence is their Crème de Papaya, a mixture of vanilla ice cream and papaya fruit rather, “frothed.” Tiramisu was surprisingly cake-like, made to be eaten from a flat plate with a fork. Or, try the Key Lime Pie, Crème Brulee, a selection of Cheesecakes or maybe the Chocolate Mousse Cake. Boizão Steakhouse is located
at 4606 Boy Scout Blvd. (East of Westshore, and across from the
International Mall) in Tampa. This new restaurant represents the
first-of-its-kind churrasco-style dining experience on the Tampa/Westshore
restaurant scene. Fine wines, full bar
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