Reviews

Copacabana, Charlottesville's Brazilian - by Liz Jessup - In The Kitchen

At The Copa - C'Ville Dining in a Nutshell - by Lynley Ogilvie - Virginia Law Weekly

Sizzlin' at the Copa - by Lucy Robbins - The Hook

A Brazilian accent on a half-hearted festival of flavor - by Caroline Altman and Adam Reno - The Cavalier Daily

At the Copa, Copacabana - by Elizabeth Hall - The Daily Progress

Taste of Brazil - by Mary Rekas - The Cavalier Daily

Copacabana, Charlottesville's Brazilian

In 1991, Hermano Freitas, a homegrown young man from Minas, Brazil (a country known for celebrating every saint and every raindrop), fulfilled his dream of opening a restaurant, Copacabana. Hermano learned his culinary techniques early as he and his family members regularly tried to outdo each other with family feasts. (He also trained for seven years in Toronto at Johnny K's, which is known for its international cuisine, though it leans a little French.) No bistro chef or slave to fashion, Hermano cooks the way he likes to cook, and that has not changed in all the years I have eaten at Copacabana. The chef and crew may be youthful, but they have created a very grown-up restaurant that comes together so well.

Charlottesville is lucky Hermano settled here, and so is their beautiful bouncy baby and his wife Simone (whom he met at Copacabana - but that's another story). Their restaurant is now well ensconced in a far-off corner of Shopper's World. (Not a name that inspires serious cuisine.) The decor is very simple, yet pleasant, and warm looking, with white tablecloths, clean and starched. It may not be a part of the New York smart, but it's a relaxed and attractive setting with a Brazilian theme.

The staff has the style of friendly, enthusiastic professionalism down pat. (But without the attitude.) The waiter started us off with a variety of appetizers. First, sauteed escargots with artichokes in Brie cheese cream sauce, which were tender and delectable. Then, the flavorfully tasty, baked Camembert cheese was fortified behind a light hazelnut crumb shell and oozed out into a pool of strawberry puree. The mussels were tender and sweet. (There is never enough garlic for me.) The soup of the day was my favorite - beef broth - obviously made from meaty veal bones, with little bits of vegetables. I wanted to take a gallon of it home.

With the main courses, my guests and I were suddenly immersed into Brazilian cuisine. The seafood dishes were all perfectly cooked, tender, and with light sauces, which did not overpower the taste of the sea. The veal and chicken dishes were also nicely flavored, my favorite being the grilled combo with New York sirloin, chicken and pork. Pasta and rice were cooked to perfection, chewy yet moist. The mixed winter vegetables were not overcooked and had a nice buttery flavor. The collard greens were to die for. My favorite dessert, which melted in my mouth, was the flan with mango puree. We washed our dinner down with very tasty bottles of Santa Maria Merlot and Chardonnay (well priced and with good Chilean flavor.)

I often have my business lunch meetings at Copacabana because it remains always an uncontrived, well-crafted, appealing, bistro-ish restaurant with eminently reasonable prices. It has never disappointed me! Eat, drink, and enjoy each day! Life is too uncertain not to. First courses range from $4 to $10 for dinner at Copacabana, and main courses run $15 to $17. Lunch is about half of that. Desserts are around $4. Almost all wines can be had for under $20. Lunch and dinner are offered Monday through Saturday. Copacabana is located in Shopper's World, 1420 Seminole Trail, 973-1177.

Liz Jessup, owner of Monticello Caterers, is a trained chef and connoisseur who works in conjunction with hotels and businesses to create memorable events, meetings, and conventions. She can be reached at: conciergeofvirginia@cstone.net.

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At the Copa

On a recent visit to the Copacabana restaurant, I asked our waiter if the owner had named his restaurant after BarryManilow's hit song. "No," he said, "the name comes from the beach in Brazil that inspired the song." I wallowed in my ignorance of Brazilian geography and food and decided to place myself in the hands of our capable waiter by asking him to chart my course through unknown menu territory. What I found on my journey was a delightful addition to the Charlottesville dining scene.

Copacabana's owner and chef, Hermano Freitas, was born in Brazil but studied cooking in Canada, hence the bizarre range of Brazilian and international cuisine on his menu. One night, for example, he offered Italian-style pasta dishes ($8.95 - $10.95), an Egyptian fish recipe ($12.95), Spanish paella with saffron rice ($14.95), and scallops in Teriyaki sauce ($12.95) in addition to authentic Brazilian recipes.

This eclectic theme continues throughout the restaurant, from the multi-cultural menu and the black and red color scheme to the potted houseplants and framed posters of Brazil. For a one-room restaurant in the middle of a shopping mall, Copacabana manages to create a surprising illusion of intimacy. A frosted glass wall hides the parking lot outside, and a split-level floor plan offers seclusion for romantic couples. In the evenings, customers dine by candlelight and listen to Brazilian music piped over the sound system (I recognized a few songs from my last trip to the dentist). This would be a very nice place to celebrate an anniversary or bring a date for dinner. During the day, the sun shines through a big front window and the prices drop by half, making it a perfect spot to take a professor to lunch.

Consider this fair warning: the portions at Copacabana are enormous and the food is extremely rich. We started our dinner with an order of Bolinho de Siri ao Molho de Pepino (lump crab cakes with cucumber sour cream sauce; $6.95) and Mexilhoes com Espinafre, Alco, Limao, ao Molho Branco (steamed mussels with spinach, garlic, and lemon cream sauce; $7.95). Although listed as appetizers, each item could easily serve as a main course, especially if paired with salad or a bowl of Sopa de Feijao Preto (black bean soup; $2.50). The crab cakes were divine: two large cakes of lump crabmeat were deep-fried and served with a refreshing cucumber sauce. The steamed mussels, although slightly gritty, were fresh and smothered in light, tangy broth. We wiped our plates clean with the warm, but standard issue, bread that was delivered after we placed our orders.

After a fresh green salad with a light avocado vinaigrette dressing (included with entrees or $2.75), we moved on to the main courses. Frango com Camarao e Molho Baiano (breast of chicken and shrimp with spicy Brazilian sauce served with angel hair pasta and vegetables; $6.95 lunch/$10.95 dinner) arrived on a parsley-sprinkled platter. The silky, surprisingly mild sauce combined Brazilian spices in a way that complemented and unified the many different elements of the dish. Camarao c/ Alho e Limao (sauteed shrimp with fresh garlic and lemon butter, accompanied by black beans, rice, and fried bananas; $6.95/$12.95) presented tasty shrimp, with way too much butter, garnished with slices of tangy star fruit. With many items on the menu, including side dishes, the chef is a bit heavy-handed with butter; diners who are concerned should make a special request of the kitchen.

Our waiter suggested Churrasco Mixto Servido (a.k.a. the Grilled Copacabana Combo with New York sirloin, chicken, and pork served with rice, black beans, and collard greens; $13.95 dinner only). Three slabs of meat marinated in herbs and grilled to order were delicious, but more protein than I could handle. And while the steak was cooked to perfection, the chicken and pork were slightly dry. Any disappointment however, was quickly eclipsed by the heavenly black beans, liberally buttered rice, and collard greens. These three items appear as side dishes throughout the menu and showcase the chef's absolute mastery of Brazilian flavors and textures. Customers who opt for a lighter meal can order side servings of each (black beans $2.00; rice or collard greens $1.50) as well as fried banana ($1.50), yuca flour with sausage ($2.00), and Brazilian-grown hearts of palm ($3.00).

Determined to forge through the menu, we ordered dessert and coffee. Copacabana offers regular American-style coffee ($1.25) as well as a rich, espresso-like Brazilian blend, which is essentially a strong, black coffee ($2.75). For dessert the chef makes a decadent banana flan with strawberry puree ($3.00). My favorite is a slice of the aptly named "magnificent seven," a cake with seven different layers of chocolate, including chocolate mousse and chocolate butter cream.

Copacabana's wine list offers an impressive selection (house wine $1.95/glass, $5.00/half carafe, $9.95/full carafe; other varieties $1.95/glass-47.75/bottle). The owners obviously know their wine and thought fully provide detailed descriptions of each vintage, a practice we wish more restaurants would adopt. Service is similarly helpful and prompt as the waiters know the menu almost as well as the chef. All in all, I think that if Lola (of purple-feather fame) and Rico ever got together, they'd fall in love with the food at Copacabana.

Copacabana Brazilian International Cuisine(973-1177) is located between Fresh Fields grocery store and Office America at 142O Seminole Trail in the Shoppers World Plaza. Open M-F, 11AM - 2:30PM, and 4:30PM - 11PM; Sat-Sun, 4:30PM - 11PM only. All major credit cards and personal checks are accepted.

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Sizzlin' at the Copa

Sometimes it's not always easy to find a restaurant to impress out-of-town guests, unless they're from Pahyiyra or something. We have many good nouvelle American-style restaurants, but, let's face it, if you five in a metropolitan area, that's nothing new.

So it was a real stroke of genius that Fernando suggested taking our new friends from New Haven to Copacabana. True, its location on Rt. 29 North screams 'Any-Strip-Mall U.S.A." But that was more than mitigated when our guests said, "We've never eaten Brazilian."

And neither had we, recently. We had fond memories of Copacabana but realized it had been a few years since we'd eaten there. Thank goodness for those out-of-town guests who got us back. And once inside, it's easy to forget you're in one of the most charmless parts of Albemarle County.

It was amazing how accommodating our waiter was. We'd requested the smoking section, but with five at our table, we had too may people to fit into that section's tables for four. Before the smokers' grousing got too bad, the waiter came back and said, "That table is almost finished, and as soon as those kids are out of here, I'll bring you an ashtray." We were already won over.

Start your dinner with a caipirinha, a Brazihan drink that's sort of like a gimlet, only made from pinga - a liquor made of distilled sugar cane - instead of gin. The pinga is added to crushed lime and sugar, and the drink is so sweet that it would be easy to down several of them before realizing how devastating they are.

The special appetizers that night included a shiitake mushroom soup that Peter said was good but needed larger bits of shiitake that weren't discernible in the mushroom purse. We ordered a really good appetizer: escargot with artichoke hearts on melted brie. Oh Mama. Even better was sopping up the cheesy remains of this dish with some of the fresh loaves of bread, leaving not a trace on the plate.

One of my favorite Brazilian dishes is a heart of palm salad ($4-9S). But the house salad with its avocado vinaigrette dressing is also scrumptious, so you'll just have to order both, as we did.

Fernando ordered the Macarronada Brasileira: linguini tossed with chicken, bell peppers, onions, and a light tomato sauce ($12.95). He wasn't raving about it, so we assumed it wasn't that good.

Peter said his vegetarian combo plate of rice, black beans, collard greens, and fried banana "wasn't that special," until Femando, talking that Portuguese talk, ordered hot sauce to liven it up. In retrospect, Peter said he should have ordered a fish dish. Too bad, because the rest of pur party loved what we had.

Cynthia and I went for the veal and scallop special that came with julienne vegetables and roast potatoes. Again, I was wonderfully accomodated with my request that it come with angel hair pasta and collards. But I wondered if I'd made a mistake when Cynthia said, "These are the best roasted potatoes I've ever had."

Esteban wanted to test his heat tolerance and have something that would make him sweat. Fernando directed him to bife acebolado, - grilled New York sirloin with braised onions and tomatoes, served with rice and collard greens ($ 15.95). Fernando included some directions in Portuguese that probably meant, "Fry this guy."

Beads of perspiration dripping from his forehead, Esteban was in heaven and declared his steak perfect. We were in heaven, too, both from the food and from mild-mannered Peter's startling revelation that he'd once had a close brush with statutory charges ("She was legal in Connecticut, but not in New York").

What is it about Latin restaurants that inspires this sort of confession from people you've just met? It reminded me of a dinner once had at a Cuban restaurant in New York after seeing Extremities. While we were guzzling down pitchers of sangria, a new male acquaintance asked the conversation-stopping question, "So what guy hasn't been involved in a gang bang?"

The point is, at Copacabana, you can eat things you don't find normally, in the Charlottesville restaurant scene, and if you're lucky, your dinner comparnons will blurt out something deliciously inappropriate, yet as juicy as the bife acebolado.

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A Brazilian accent on a half-hearted festival of flavor

Diners can choose an entree such as grilled chicken with hot and sour pineapple, but they will have to pay for extra bread. Uis elit dit adio od dunt et nismodole isciliquis.

Copacabana promises to bring Carnevale to Charlottesville.

The attempt is admirable, but perhaps falls just short of its mark.

It is difficult to create an atmosphere that will transcend standard shopping center surroundings, but the interior of Copacabana looks oddly more like a Chinese restaurant than a Brazilian one. The framed travel posters of Brazil on the walls do spice up the primarily red, black and white color scheme, but one would expect a pretty colorful tropical decor.

While the interior is subdued and uneventful, however, the menu is diverse and the food is better than most.

Every element of the sauteed escargot appetizer ($8.95) is delicious in and of itself, but what makes the dish truly wonderful is the manner in which these components unite and complement each other. The tender escargot, alongside artichokes and cubes of baked Brie cheese, is served in a Brie cream.

The baked Camembert cheese appetizer ($8.95) is lovely. It is breaded with finely chopped hazelnuts before baking, and is served on a plate covered with strawberry puree. It is served with character-free, rather dry brown cocktail bread, but you can supplement it with the warm white bread that is served at the table.

Given the rather high-end prices on the menu, one would expect free extra bread - a standard mark of generous hospitality. Unfortunately, extra bread costs 95 cents. Just like new cars come with full tanks of gas, so too should nice restaurants throw in unlimited warm bread.

The Grilled Chicken Salad ($9.95) is one of Copacabana's most heralded culinary accomplishments, and although it was beautiful to look at, frankly it was pretty disappointing. The idea of a salad with melon and strawberry in February was very enticing, but there was only one lone strawberry on the plate. Apple slices and chunks of avocado also were bedded on the colorful but rather bitter cabbage.

Although the dressing was the glamorously titled Champagne Poppy-seed, its effect on the salad was one of being unpleasantly smothered in honey. The grilled and flattened chicken breast added some heft to the salad but it couldn't escape the sweet and heavy dressing coating.

If you order this, ask for the dressing on the side.

For those with a healthy appetite and a particularly carnivorous leaning, the Paella Copacabana ($16.95) promises to both fill and satisfy. Mussels, clams, scallops, chicken, shrimp, pork and sausage, all well prepared and delicately balanced, are placed atop saffron rice and surrounded with shredded collard greens. This menagerie of meats, with its festive and colorful accents, looks daunting when it arrives at the table. For most people, the paella is more than a one-person meal and couples could consider splitting it along with an appetizer. But, this gluttonous reviewer surmounted the serving size and is all the more grateful for the experience.

The sauteed shrimp ($14.95) includes five healthy-sized shrimp that are basted with fresh garlic and lemon butter and served with fried bananas on a bed of rice and collard greens.

The grilled chicken ($13.95) with hot and sour pineapple sauce is serviceable. The canned pineapple slices on the chicken are pleasant enough and make for a colorful dish, and the roasted potatoes and vegetables round out the plate.

To finish off the meal, Copacabana offers traditionally Brazilian dessert options, such as Banana Flan, as well as more universal delicacies. The chocolate cake ($6.00) is incredibly rich and highly delectable. Layers of cake and fudge are topped with whipped cream and encrusted with chocolate chips to provide a not-so-low calorie treat.

The generous portion of tiramisu ($6.00) was almost too much to eat, and the delicately sprinkled chocolate powder topped off the presentation of the espresso-soaked ladyfingers and layers of cream.

Copacabana's head chef and owner, Hermano Freitas, opened the restaurant in 1991 after moving to Charlottesville from Toronto. Originally from Minas, Brazil, Freitas has integrated many international flavors into his menu, although he is grounded in the Brazilian tradition.

While spending an evening at Copacabana, staring at Highway 29 and Advance Auto Parts from the restaurant window, is not exactly sheer festival and pageantry, the spices in a few of the entrees will make your stomach get up and dance. The kitchen seems to completely hit or nearly miss, as some dishes are much better than others, but the food is good on the whole.

In a world of dining similarity, a trip to Copacabana, to its credit, is unlike any other journey in Charlottesville.

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At the Copa, Copacabana

Torn as Charlottesville has been during the bypass debate, few can dispute that the city continues the northward creep. Thus, it is inevitable that restaurants follow the shops and services in the strip malls of 29N. Copacabana could easy be overlooked, as its location in the Staples complex cannot be seen from the highway.

It has been open for about 3 years. However, due the specialized ethnic slant - Brazilian - it seems more firmly entrenched than Finazzo's (the previous restaurant located there). How do you market "Brazilian International Cuisine"? Portuguese, the most romantic of the languages is on the menu (for instance, "frango com batata"= chicken with potato), and Brazilian travel posters adorn the walls, but not all the dishes resemble true South American Cuisine. While this is not necessary a drawback, eager diners should not rush to Copacabana for authenticity across the menu-go instead for South American twists on old favorites.

The first courses are unfussy. Romaine salad is very good, especially with the light, tangy avocado dressing. Choose the romaine rather than the house salad, a dismal plate of chopped lettuce, carrot, and cucumber, which looked for all the world like a home ec. project. The sopa do dia on my last visit was a Brazilian version of Mulligatawny (Indian curried cream soup), its curry flavor fruity and rich rather than hot, enhanced by fresh cilantro. Other appetizer picks include steamed mussels in wine sauce, and baked camembert with (intriguing) strawberry puree.(You don't often see the later in the US, and I'm interested in how readers respond to the dish).

Main courses comprise mostly chicken and seafood.(Some diners may wish to note that there are a number of veal dishes on the menu.) The veal is very well-prepared. However, a recent visit left me puzzled. One companion ordered the "tiger shrimp wrapped in veal medallions", a special of the day, and another the "shrimp and veal medallions", a regular offering. Save for the wrapping effect on the first choice, both dishes seemed exactly alike. Why? The kitchen does an excellent job of sauteing meats; both the veal and the chicken are consistently well-browned and tender. Fellow diners enjoyed the beautiful presentation of the entrees, as each plate is carefully arranged with meat, vegetables and potatoes. The steamed yellow and green squash combination adds color as well as being very tasty, and the herb-roasted potatoes are a smash.

One person complained that his shrimp were tasteless (they were waterlogged).My chicken stuffed with crabmeat in basil cream sauce looked gorgeous, but I found the crabmeat stuffing almost inedible. However, another dish well worth sampling is the paella, a generous platter of chicken, mussels, shrimp, and sausage on saffron rice, served with excellent collard greens. The chicken with sundried tomatoes and kalamata olives arrived with herb and garlic speckled angel hair pasta - delicious! Other pasta dishes are equally good, and save for the unfortunate house salad, all the vegetables at Copacabana taste unimpeachably fresh and perfectly cooked.

The wine list as Copacabana is varied in type and price. My group tried a quite decent carafe of Brazilian Chardonnay (and staved off longings for that $48 Italian Montalcino!). The restaurant has a comfortable atmosphere, although some of the tables are too close together for conversation or comfort. In light of my criticisms, I would like to comment that I overhead more than one group around us say how "delicious" dinner was and how much they enjoyed the restaurant.

In fact, one of the bests parts about dinner at Copacabana is dessert. Selections do change, but if their homemade banana flan is available, try it. Unlike the bland custards one often find at Mexican restaurants, this flan is rich, creamy yellow, and flavored with a hint of banana. It was a rich, gooey, caramelized bottom, too. Copacabana's dinner menu run from $9.95 to $14.95 and a dinner for two, with drinks, dessert, tax and tip coast a not-so-bad $50. Although there's room for improvement, Copacabana merits a visit - a sure-fire South American cure for the February blahs.

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Taste of Brazil

The waitress's name wasn't Lola, but the Copacabana Brazilian International Restaurant offers more exotic culture than the Barry Manilow tune's showgirl. The authentic restaurant offers distinctively-flavored dishes served in a friendly manners.

Hermano Freitas oversees the heart of Copacabana's cozy setting as cook, manager and owner of the restaurant. After leaving Brazil for Toronto in 1983, he learned to cook by working at a variety of ethnic restaurants, serving French, German and Italian cuisine.

"I learned a lot from different chefs in Toronto," Freitas said.

But Freitas brings plenty of native Brazilian foods to the table at his restaurant, which opened for business seven years ago. Fried bananas and collard greens are just a sampling of the Brazilian favorites Freitas cooks.

The simple atmosphere enhances Copacabana's Brazilian dishes, with Spanish and Portuguese love songs pouring over customers. Posters of Brazilian cities -- including Minas, Freitas's home town -- decorate the walls. And a lit candle on the table adds to the mood. Even the menu has Portuguese captions.

With entree prices ranging from $10 to $16 per person, the restaurant could probably be saved for dates or a special occasion. But the enormous portions, artful presentation and frisky flavors warrant the rather steep prices of some of the entrees.

The inexpensive side dish of fried bananas melted the moment they left the fork. Other exotic appetizers, slightly more expensive ($7-$9), seemed inviting as well: baked camembert cheese with strawberry puree and deep-fried lump crab cake with cucumber sour cream sauce.

The chicken breast and shrimp in spicy Brazilian sauce served with angel hair pasta and vegetables came right away. The sauce was buttery-rich, and not too hot. The smaller serving of two shrimp kept good company with two large cuts of chicken. Side portions of zucchini and carrots were a nice touch and added color to the dish.

Simone, Freitas's wife, served hot, fresh bread and a simple salad with pepper parmesan dressing before the main dishes arrived, making sure customers never had to wait for food. With the inclusion of the salad and bread, the meal left me feeling like I couldn't eat another bite.

The elaborate grilled Copacabana combo on a skewer included New York sirloin, chicken, pork, peppers and onions -- shishkabob style. The side dishes were tasty, with rice, black beans and collard greens that presented a different flavor than the American version.

Other entrees focused on pasta, chicken, meat and seafood. The seafood dishes looked particularly inviting: sauteed scallops in sherry wine and cream sauce-grilled Atlantic salmon with herbs of provence and lemon. The restaurant serves dishes with mussels, clams and shrimp, too.

For wine fans, the menu offers a large variety of foreign and domestic vintages.

Copacabana's specialty dessert, banana flan, ended the evening on a high note. Topped with strawberry sauce and coupled with whipped cream dollops, the flan looked almost to good to eat. Although the strawberry sauce hid the banana flavor, it did not take away from the dessert's fresh taste.

In addition to the great food, Copacabana offers fantastic hospitality and a helpful staff. Water glasses never became anything less than half-full, and Simone's speedy service punctuated the evening meal. The welcoming environment reflects the nature of Freitas's business; many of Freitas's friends and family are part of the restaurant's staff.

The quality and presentation of the food stands out against the average Charlottesville restaurant; Copacabana presents an exotic flavor sure to enlighten your palate.

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