It was a special treat to enjoy an excellent dinner from Brazil paired with fine wines of the world at under-the-radar Belgard Kitchen’s Head Chef Lucas Ferreira Parente. Departing from their usual casual menu, Chef prepared some of his traditional dishes, some of his grandmother’s recipes lifted with a modern twist. Our evening started through the massive doors of the restaurant to be greeted with a caipirinha, a traditional drink of Brazil, with cachaça, lime and sugar, a great start to the evening.
We sat down for an amuse-bouche of Pastel de camarão e catupiry, a Shrimp and Catupiry cheese fried dumpling followed by a Rainforest Salad, Glorious Organics summer greens, gem tomatoes, heart of palm (pupunha), mango, caramelized cashew nuts, watercress oil, lime, honey, and crispy potatoes, a delicious melange paired with Soito, Dao Otios Reserva Branco, from Portugal. Then, Moqueca Baiana, a Bahia traditional seafood stew with coconut milk, bell peppers, snapper, shrimp, octopus, mussels, dendê (palm oil) crispy farofa, and cilantro microgreens paired with a tasty 2017 Casa Rojo Rías Baixas La Marimorena, from Galicia, Spain.
Our main course was Carne de Sol / Sun Meat, a Salt-cured rump cap steak, with creamy pirão (thickened cassava broth), shallot confit, rapadura (caramelized cane sugar), and crispy cassava flakes paired with 2020 Zuccardi Tito Paraje Altamira, from the Uco Valley, Argentina.
Completing our meal was a sweet finish of Passion Fruit Mille-feuille, a Passion fruit mousse with pineapple molasses and pará-nuts accompanied by a 2010 Château Guiraud, from Sauternes, France.
What a splendid evening of delicious food and wine for which we thank Chef and his brigade, Cellarmaster Kim Mead for her comments on the wines and Milena Robertson for her photographic record of the evening.