Brasero - Chicago
"Midwestern sensibility with the flavors 
of South America" -- that's how John Manion describes his newest restaurant, Brasero. Many Chicagoans know Manion from La Sirena Clandestina and, more recently, El Che, where he went big on South American cooking over open fire.
Brasero is mostly about meat, cooked over flames, one of the most basic -- and satisfying -- meals a person could hope for. And there are a lot of meals like that at John Manion's Brasero. Two standouts are the Creekstone Farms center cut ribeye, served with Diane Sauce and crunchy green peppercorns, and the Wagyu picanha, a Brazilian cut of round steak, served with a chimi-vinaigrette.
There is also good representation of fish and seafood on the menu, starting with a caviar option to kick off the evening, followed by tuna crudo, scallop ceviche and blue crab gratin. If you plan to make fish the centerpiece of your meal, there's a grilled half lobster and a whole grilled snapper. If you're interested in a traditional Brazilian seafood dish, check out the moqueca, a kind of stew of shrimp, mussels, snapper, coconut broth, fried dende nuts, cilantro and coconut bomba rice.
Anthony Tood reports in Chicago Magazine that "One centerpiece of the menu will be a take on feijoada, a beef and black bean stew that is considered the Brazilian national dish. Rather than a stew, Manion’s version is based around a giant beef shank, which is smoked then braised and served with black beans folded with bomba rice, which almost becomes a black bean risotto. 'It’s a take on osso bucco with a Brazilian and midwestern sensibility,' he explains. The shank comes with various flavorful bits, including fermented collard green kimchi and an orange mostarda. 'It’s going to be this sort of heroic presentation with all these little choose your own adventure dishes on the side,'” says Manion.