wordplay: Cameron Dabney
images: Mauricio Zomilla

Don’t we all desire passion heat and spice on Valentine’s Day? Café Brazil is an explosion of exotic flavors, vibrant colors, and dreamy tropical drinks where lovers feed each other sensual dishes with delight.

ATMOSPHERE: Brilliant colors and playful art cover the walls while Latin music fills the air. APHRODISIAC: Passion fruit rum drinks and chilies generate arousal with each taste, hey it’s Brazilian!!
AMORE: Sautéed scallops with a Spicy Cayenne Béchamel, and for dessert, Chocolate Bacci Semifreddo with Amaretto and Frangelico liquor.

Jack Frost continues to conduct his long symphony of cracking icicles and baritone winds. There is remedy for this frozen state: the fiery passion of love. And this month we lovingly dedicate 24 hours to St. Valentine and his petite cherubic pal. As the 14th approaches, you seek the perfect location to heat up the night with that special love. Café Brazil must be the most passionate restaurant north of the border. This brilliantly colored and spicy restaurant brings South American warmth to our snowy turf.

The sun has set and the thermostat reads 11. I shuffle across the frozen ground bundled in a million layers. As I gaze through the window of Café Brazil, the vibrancy dazzles my eyes like fireworks on New Year’s. I open the door to a familiar Samba beat that hits me like an embrace. I am led to a table glowing in candlelight lined by a peacock blue wall. The colors, music and the unique smells start to play with my psyche.  Soon the cold in my head melts away. My mind fills with visions of Carnaval costumes and dancers. 

Mojito? Caipirinha? I gaze at the colorful menus pondering which tropical concoction I should sip on tonight. I decide on a Batidas, a colorful frosty drink with Brazilian fruit juice and rum topped with citrus and a cherry. The rummy sensation trickles down my spine. I desire another island concoction. This time I upgrade to a 16-year Nicaraguan rum. Barrel-aged goodness with a hint of nut, I could drink this one like a sailor. But it’s made even better with the nectar of two aphrodisiac fruits: mango and passion fruit.

The Brazilian heat has finally reached my toes and fingers when the appetizer is presented. “Every dish in at Café Brazil is a light of fire,” says Chef Tony. And with the first taste of the scallop appetizer, I understand why. Scallops are one of the most sensual dishes of the sea, and, a sure way to win the tail of the “merperson” you fancy. These savory delights are served in a Spicy Cayenne Béchamel sauce. The heat could wake you from a Brazilian daydream. Still, the spice is perfectly balanced with creamy puree, similar to slipping into satin sheets with a warm body. This dish is a potent aphrodisiac; you will want to feed to your lover very, very slowly.

The main course is Caribbean Grouper with a large prawn on top, garnished with a sweet hot red beet ginger and lime salsa. It resembled a brilliant colored coral reef, and the flavors were as playful as the fish. The vibrant energy of whole foods sings, and as you feast you are instilled with the grace, strength and focus of a Capoeirista. Finishing this meal with the sweetness of the Chocolate Bacci semifreddo is an absolute must.

In Portuguese, they say “Uma andorinha so’, nao faz verao”, which translates “one sparrow alone does not make a summer”. But, two sparrows and those erotic, exotic flavors at Café Brazil can make it feel like summer at least for the rest of the night.

4408 Lowell Blvd

(303) 480.1877

CafeBrazilDenver.com