All-you-can-eat meat, Gaucho style

To kick off the new year, the Chain Gang chose to live large at Fogo de Chao at 1337 Chestnut St. It's in the old J. Caldwell space, and, fittingly, it's a jewel.

Fogo is a new-to-the-area, family-owned Brazilian steakhouse with 11 other locations, four in Brazil. It serves meat in the tradition of churrasco - how Gauchos roast meats over open pits - and it's a fixed-price, all-you-can-eat establishment with a few twists.

The first twist is the salad bar, which goes way beyond the standard lettuce, tomatoes and shredded carrots. The Fogo salad bar includes smoked salmon, Italian meats and cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, apple salad, chicken salad, various greens and hearts of palm (from Brazil, of course).

And that's just to whet your appetite. The real attraction of Fogo is the selection of 15 meats sliced hot onto your plate off skewers, by the waiter/chefs (trained in Brazil) who prepared them. Want your cut rare, medium or well done? No problem.

All you need do to inform your server that you're hungry is flip the coaster at your plate from red to green and within minutes, a slab of beef, lamb chops, chicken legs or sausage (all freshly prepared) is at your side.

Need to take a digestion break? Flip the green to red.

In addition to the lamb, chicken and sausage, Fogo offers rib-eye steak, filet mignon (regular or bacon-wrapped), top sirloin, bottom sirloin (a particular favorite), a robust garlic-flavored sirloin and beef and pork ribs. As long as you're green, it just keeps on coming.

Not enough food? Fogo throws in plates of garlic mashed potatoes, polenta, fried banana and warm cheese breads.

There also are a large wine menu and a surprisingly large selection of desserts. To cap off dinner, the Gang tried the excellent Creme Brulee ($6.75), the very good Molten Chocolate Cake ($7.75) and Turtle Cheesecake ($6.75) and the good Papaya Cream ($7), which scores points for being light enough to finish after all that food.

Service is excellent - knowledgeable and courteous.

All that needs improving is the boring beer list. Such flavorful meats deserve more subtle, flavorful brews.

But that's quibbling. Fogo de Chao is a welcome addition to the Center City steakhouse scene, allowing patrons to taste a variety of succulent cuts at different degrees of redness and learn what they like best. On their next visit they'll know better what to savor.

And there's much to savor. The meat is seared crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and it's exceedingly flavorful despite minimal seasoning. Although there's a ton of food, you can dine at a pace leisurely enough that you don't leave feeling like a pinata. And there are so many healthy salad alternatives, you may not feel as bad about all the red meat.

For its quality, service and presentation, Fogo de Chao is the Chain Gang's first four-link restaurant.

Chain: Fogo de Chao, 1337 Chestnut St. Phone: 215-636-9700. There are seven other U.S. locations, the closest in Washington, D.C.

Reservations: Recommended.

Parking: There is pricey valet parking. Otherwise, it's streets, lots or garages.

Price: Fogo isn't cheapo. The meats/salads combo is $44.50 for dinner and $24.50 for lunch. The salads-only option is $19.50. Drinks and desserts are extra. Our dinner for four, with four drinks and four desserts, came to $255.14 plus tip.

Portions: It's all-you-can-eat - and good. You don't have to be a pig to get your money's worth.

Overall grade: Four out of four links. A terrific spot for business, travel or a special occasion. Maybe not the best place for a first date as neither party will want to let out his or her inner glutton. We'd also avoid Fogo if you have high blood pressure as the beef is well-salted. Otherwise, Fogo de Chao raises the steaks for chains. *