The Birthday Girl Chooses

Brazilian for the Dining Divas

Last ‘Got Together’ Dinner

By Lisa Kampeter

Remember those days when you’d meet up with your friends, enjoy dinner, talk on and on and laugh together? Feels like a really long time ago, doesn’t it? This is about one of those days…the last time the Dining Divas got together. One of those good days when we sat side by side.

In honor of the big 4-0, we let the Birthday Diva choose the restaurant and invite a special guest, her husband. She chose Yemanja Brasil, and what a treat it was! In business for 26 years, many of us were surprised we’d never heard of the place. It’s down from Frasers Brown Bag (a Divas’ favorite) in Benton Park and not too far from the brewery. If you choose to go there, don’t go through downtown, which is the way I was sent. I made several U-turns and in not-so-great areas.

We were excited to hear about the Youngest Diva’s new job in a new field for her. She just so happens to be working for the same company as our Talkative Diva. They enjoyed conversing about their place of employment, and they laughed as she wasn’t certain what exactly she would be doing for them.                   The Cultured Diva along with a couple others discussed the woes of looking for new employment. They’d had lots of interviews at the time in hopes of the dream job, or at least a better one!

The Soon-to-Be Grandma Diva enthusiastically shared with us that her grandson was to be born in about a month. Unfortunately, she also shared the struggles of hiring responsible people to work for her, and the Manager Diva understood completely. And then the conversation turned to the Coronavirus, and the cheap cruise the Blonde Diva discussed with her husband. It hadn’t clicked why it was so cheap. At the time, the Coronavirus was so far away from us.

Our waitress, who also was the owner, recommended starting the night off with Brazil’s traditional drink called Caipirinha. It was made with rum, sugar, and lime and sweet but tasty. Her husband was working in the kitchen that night and when we asked if there were any specials, she said “It’s chili relleno, a Mexican dish. My husband is Mexican,” she laughed as the restaurant was Brazilian. She indulges him sometimes.

The appetizers were delicious. We had broiled cheese bread, empanadas, and fried Yucca root wedges (French fries) with a curry-parmesan dipping sauce. A couple Adventurous Divas tried Brazil’s National dish, Feijoida de Ogum, a stew-like dish with smoked sausage, ribs and beef.   The dish was huge, and it came with rice that you mixed with the stew. And orange slices to clean your palate. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much flavor to it.   The Acebalado (steak) was perfect and that pleased the Birthday Diva.   Many meals were prepared with raisins and served with collard greens so we assumed this was tradition in Brazil.

Going the not so traditional route, the Safe Diva had Daniel Rosa, basically a Brazilian chicken parmesan with fries. The Dieting Diva tried some type of chicken dish that resembled chicken a la king, delicious yet rich. And the Steak Kabob had a wonderful flavor although it was slightly tough.

If you’ve ever read this column before, you know I always say it’s about the group, not the restaurant. That’s just the location. Yemanja Brasil was bright, enjoyable, and delicious. A great restaurant, and that’s obvious with 26 years under their belt. But it’s the comradery of the group that’s the best and what’s really important. I didn’t realize quite how much I appreciated that before. But I sure do now! Until next time…whenever that will be.

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