Dinner Isn’t Just Food at Brazil Up--It’s a Dizzying Carnival of Casualness

Here’s an actual Brazilian word for you: fafaca . As far as I can tell, it means “when three or more people talk at the same time.” Example: “And then there was a big fafaca .”

This is one lively, casual, pretty disorienting culture we’re talking about. My personal theory is that its qualities go back to all the coffee Brazilians drink. They’ll speak casually of having “a nice soothing cup of coffee before retiring”--to help them go to sleep, that is.

Brazil Up in West Hollywood gives something of the proper carnival effect. The walls are painted in swirling patterns like the famous sidewalks of Sao Paulo, only in blinding shades of yellow and white. There’s a big TV on in one corner to justify Brazil Up’s self-definition as a “Food Video Show,” programmed on some basis that eludes me.

And Brazil Up has certainly got the casualness thing down. Just about the only appetizer is empada , a cousin of the Spanish empanada. One day it’s a little popover-like muffin with a tiny filling of chicken and hearts of palm; another day it’s a regular muffin generously stuffed with chicken and onions flavored with parsley.

The entrees are all named after Brazilian tourist attractions such as Ipanema and Copacabana, except for “Rio Samba,” which is named after two tourist attractions, and Feijoada , which is actually the name of the dish. The entrees have a tendency to change daily too, unless I’ve just gotten my orders crossed on several occasions.

For instance: A new addition to the menu is frango con guiabo , a simple, enjoyable dish of chicken stewed with okra in a little tomato sauce. It’s a little hard to tell it from Corcovado , which as I had it was chicken stewed with okra in a little tomato sauce (and with none of the “golden potatoes” the menu speaks of). I did notice that when I ordered Corcovado , the woman behind the counter told the cook “ galinha ,” which is simply the word for chicken.

No problem. I ordered a chicken dish, I got a chicken dish. I do wonder whether there is actually a separate dish called Corcovado and what those golden potatoes are.

Likewise in the beef department. “Ipanema” is chunks of beef shish kebab with peas, carrots and onions, served with rice and the bland, crumbly tropical starch called farofa (according to the menu, that is; I’d swear I got mashed potato in this instance). Another day I ordered “Copacabana,” which was supposed to be fried breaded beef, but it turned out to be beef shish kebab again, only juicier this time, with spicier peas and carrots. It was terrific.

I should add that when I ordered “Carioca,” it was, as advertised, fried breaded fish, and that “Rio Samba” was definitely chicken stewed with onion rings, peas and tomatoes, dashed with vinegar, as the menu promised. True, the menu says you get either rice or mashed potatoes with it, but somehow I got both.

Feijoada , the Brazilian national dish, is basically rice and black beans with whichever and however many garnishes you feel like adding. As I had it, the beans contained some big chunks of stewed beef and some bits of sausage. The garnishes were farofa , that tropical starch of ground manioc root, fried with bacon. There was also a wonderful crisp fried leaf vegetable, possibly kale, bright green and slightly tart, and some chunks of peeled orange, of course.

The desserts have the same shifting quality as the entrees, but they are unusually good. The best is doce de leite , made by cooking condensed milk until it caramelizes--more or less a smooth-serve version of caramel candy. Doce de coco is a homemade chocolate candy, and there’s the usual Latin American guava conserve dessert, goiabada , which sometimes comes with cheese, sometimes without.

Sometimes there are stranger things, though. There might be doce de aborboro , a sort of pudding that consists of pureed winter squash flavored with coconut, or maybe pineapple or zucchini-raisin bran muffins.

Brazil Up is applying for a beer and wine license. In the meantime, the only beverages it has are coffee, flavored mineral waters and a Brazilian soft drink said to be made from a fruit called guarana , which tastes like a cherry. The name of the drink is Antarctica, which makes enough sense for me.

Suggested dishes: empada, $1.25; Ipanema (beef brochette), $5.75; Rio Samba (chicken), $4.75; doce de leite, 85 cents.

Brazil Up, 8276 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. (213) 654-8406. Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., till 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. No alcoholic beverages. Street parking and parking in rear. No credit cards. Dinner for two, food only, $13 to $16.