I’ve shot quite a few Bay Area Brazilian churrascarias (steakhouses), so I’m no stranger to their gaucho servers and skewers of hot-from-the-oven hunks of meat. The food is delicious and the experience is one-of-a-kind. I was honored to work on behalf of my friends at Wagstaff to shoot the latest restaurant opening for their client Fogo de Chão. My assignment was two shoot over the course of two evenings – the first night (photos below) was a friends and family soft opening. The next night was more of a VIP event with an official ribbon-cutting with celebrity guests. Over the course of both nights, I captured behind-the-scenes action in the kitchens, portraits of gauchos with their skewers of steak, closeup and wide shots of the salad bar, the wine selection / bar area and cocktails, and lots of candid shots of customers enjoying the experience – with a few semi-staged “hero” shots of gauchos serving people. It was an ambitious assignment, given the chaos of a live event and crowded spaces. It’s extremely challenging to control the lighting in these types of uncontrolled environments, but I believe I got exactly what the client needed. Here’s a few favorite photos below – more to come from day two – the vip / ribbon cutting event.
The salad bar is an important part of Brazilian steakhouses
The gauchos are constantly moving in and out of the kitchen, checking the skewered meat roasting in the high-tech infrared ovens
A fun angle of the gauchos in the kitchen working the ovens.
This gaucho demonstrated using his blade to salt the beef
Gauchos proudly displaying tonight’s dinner offerings.
The exterior signage and patio of this newest Fogo de Chão restaurant, located in Santana Row, San Jose, California.
a friendly server
You can see the meat is still steaming hot – straight from the oven
This couple is getting served by a friendly gaucho
Multiple gauchos serve customers at a table
Some of the gauchos are trained in expert wine selection
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