Delicious Café and Brazilian Grill

ADDRESS
14725 Excelsior Blvd, Minnetonka, 952-933-3323, deliciousintlbakery.com

THE SCENE
This storefront café wedged into a strip mall was originally a Dunn Brothers coffee shop. But current owners Ivaldo and Ivany Fonseca have gradually expanded it from a bakery/coffee spot into a full-service Brazilian churrascaria. The traffic comprises a mixture of casually attired dine-in and carry-out customers. As for the décor, it’s a minimalist combination of bright yellow- and red-painted walls, polished wood floors, black Formica tables, and a large flat-screen TV that is occasionally tuned into Brazilian soccer matches. It’s nothing fancy but pleasantly comfortable.

OUR TAKE
After experiencing the carved meat extravaganza at Fogo de Chão in downtown Minneapolis, many of us now know the simple pleasures of Brazilian cooking. Delicious Café offers a scaled-down and less-costly version of this South American country’s culinary specialties. For the most part, Brazilian fare doesn’t tend toward spicy or strongly seasoned; meat is sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic, and then grilled. Several of the entrées at Delicious showcase this elegant simplicity. Standouts include a rack of juicy lamb chops, mini-skewers of succulent beef and chicken, and sliced beef tenderloin served over sautéed onions. Simple cheese sauces are also popular. The menu includes several typical items, most notably a tender grilled chicken breast topped with a mascarpone gravy. Flavor is enhanced by mingling the meats with the ubiquitous Brazilian condiments of rice, beans, fried plantains, fried yucca, and farofa—a mixture of yucca flour, garlic, paprika, and bacon. From the short list of appetizers, consider the pasties—the Brazilian version of an empanada that comes lightly stuffed with meat or cheese. Although service is upbeat and friendly, it tends to be somewhat lackadaisical. There’s a Portuguese language lesson on the back of the menu that can help pass the time.

FEIJOADA
On Saturdays and Sundays, the specialty du jour is the Brazilian national dish, feijoada. Slaves reputedly created the dish as a catchall for pig scraps discarded by their masters. As prepared at Delicious, it’s a lengthily simmered, hearty, and filling black bean stew brimming with braised pork, beef, sausage, and bacon. Presented in a pot alongside a plate of rice and the do-it-yourself supplements of collard greens, orange wedges, Tabasco, and farofa, it’s the real deal.