By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

The stakes have risen in Central Florida if you love filet mignon and sirloin.

Fogo de Chão Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse arrived in Orlando a few weeks ago and I finally got to try out this unique dining experience over the weekend.

Fogo is not inexpensive — lunch will set you back $26.50 on  a weekday ($35.50 Sunday) and dinner is $42.50 (drinks, desserts extra), but this is a meal that is intended to impress and it does just that as soon as you walk through the door.

While the International Drive restaurant is based on the centuries old gaucho tradition known as churrasco, fire roasted over an open charcoal flame, the interior is all-contemporary.

It begins when you walk through the door — it’s a contemporary look in the interior with a rich palette of colors. The cobalt-blue tile tower entrance also features a glass-enclosed open flame rotisserie, a preview of things to come.

The feast of food begins with a salad bar (available separately, but included in the regular lunch and dinner price.) The salad is a meal onto itself if meat is not your mantra.

The salad bar features more than 30 items, including smoked salmon, sun-dried tomatoes, hearts of palm, tabbouleh salad, jumbo asparagus, cured meats, artisan breads and imported cheeses.

When you have had your fill of the salad bar, flip the circular card at your table, and the feast of meat begins.

At Fogo they call the experience espeto corrido, or “continuous service,” in which a team of Brazilian-trained gaucho chefs prepare and serve 15 different cuts of beef, lamb, chicken and pork.  As long as your card is green, the chefs will continue to bring some really great cuts of meat, cooked to specification — rare to well-done

A bit of a warning here: if you don’t flip that card from green to red, you will feel like Lucy and Ethel on the chocolate conveyer belt line in I Love Lucy. You will  never catch-up.

The servers are also the chefs. Back in the kitchen, they keep  watchful eyes on the rows of various meats and know just when to bring them table-side.

The serving team also includes additional staff with drink and dessert orders as well as those on hand with a fresh plate.

The meat selections include picanha (the prime part of the sirloin, seasoned with sea salt or flavored with garlic); filet mignon (cut from the tenderloin, it can also be served wrapped in bacon); alcatra, cut from the top sirloin; fraldinha, cut from the bottom sirloin; beef ancho, the prime part of the rib eye; cordeiro, young leg of lamb sliced off the bone. Lamb chops are also available; lombo, from the pork loin, the filets are encrusted with parmesan cheese; costela de porco, pork ribs; frango, a variety of cuts, including chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and chicken legs and lunguica, pork sausages.

It is nearly impossible to pick a favorite. I tried every meat selection except the lamb and pork loin, and each was exceptional, but all of the steaks were truly memorable.

The portions, sliced right onto your plate, are not large, but you can pick a favorite or favorites and just keep that card green.

Table side orders, which also are refreshed throughout the meal, include Brazilian specialties polenta, garlic mashed potatoes, carmelized bananas  and pao de queijo (cheese bread).

The restaurant offers a 200-label wine list, for which it has received Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence for the past eight years.  Guests also may sample the Caipirinha, made from Brazilian liquor cachaça, as well as Guarana Brazilian soda and Brazilian lemonade.  Desserts (a challenge after the salad bar and meat entrees) include the restaurant’s signature Papaya Cream, made with fresh papaya, vanilla ice cream and Crème de Cassis liqueur, as well as South American Flan, Crème Brule, Turtle Cheesecake, Molten Chocolate Cake and Key Lime Pie.

The 12,000 square-foot restaurant has seating for 400 guests and offers five private and semi-private dining rooms for group events, meetings and wedding celebrations.  An outdoor patio – a first for the restaurant company – features stone floors, exposed wood beams and teak planters.

Children five years of age and under dine free at Fogo.  Children six to 10 years of age dine at half-prices listed above.  Beverages, desserts, taxes and gratuity are additional.

Come hungry to Fogo to really take advantage of this great dining experience. It’s the perfect place for an important date or to make a memorable family gathering.

Reservations are suggested and  are pretty much a requirement on a weekend evening.

Lunch is served  Monday – Thursday, noon p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Friday: noon  p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sunday: noon to 3 p.m.

Dinner is served Monday - Thursday: 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday:  5 to 11 : p.m. Sunday 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.    For more information, visit www.fogo.com. Fogo de Chão Orlando is located at 8282 International Drive. Call 407-370-0711 for reservations.

The restaurant also 17 other  locations including Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas, Austin, Denver as well as restaurants in Brazil.