I miss Brazil. Last Thanksgiving, a close group of friends and I rented an apartment in Rio De Janiero for nearly two weeks. The trip of a lifetime. This is the first time I felt like I was back.

When I arrived, I saw my friends E.S. and M.S. ordering appetizers. They ordered the fried yucca and fried polenta. Both of which I’m a big fan of. Oh! Here they are now!

When they mentioned that our other friends A.K. and M.C. were going to be late, I ordered a piece of the Pao De Queijo (Cheese bread) and a Pasteis (sort of a shallow hot pocket filled with beef)

The only issue was, it was not only filled with beef. It also contained a shard of broken glass. Yikes. Luckily, I nearly escaped having my throat torn to shreds. M.S. had that honor. Sorry, Matt! Oops, I mean M.S.

But the restaurant staff were very concerned and gracious about it, comping not only the offending pastry, but two of our meals!

I ordered the Feijoada, the famous Brazilian dish, a pork and black bean stew, which I desperately tried to get in Brazil but it alluded me. They only serve it on special nights at certain places and it was kind of expensive. So, I had to get it tonight.

I liked it, didn’t love it. Lots of bone, little meat. I did love the collard greens that came with it.

Everyone seemed to love love love their meals and we all had a great time. A fun and inexpensive joint in a Brazilian section of Venice BLVD. I would definitely come back.

The best part was that Ralphs, a few blocks away, sold a beer we drank constantly in Brazil. Skol!

Oh! Hi Skol!