World Cuisine at Roots of Brasil

BY MARY MICHAELS | PHOTOS BY JULIE PRAIRIE PHOTOGRAPHY

If someone says “Brazil” to you, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s their famous Carnival, the Amazon rainforest, the 98-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer statue at Rio De Janeiro or world-class soccer.

What you may not know is that South American country is also home to miles of beaches, as well as hard-working cattle ranchers…and incredible food.

Now, you don’t have to spend an entire day (or more) hopping flights to Rio or other parts of the country. You only have to head downtown to the historic Stockman’s Exchange Bank building at 8th Street and Weber Avenue and enjoy a meal at Roots of Brasil. There, you get the beach-meets-ranch feel with a wide array of foods inspired by cuisines from around the world.

The restaurant’s owners are Mark and Kaila Gillespie, former Kaladi’s owners, who opened the restaurant last month with Kaila’s brother (and chef), Jamie Grogan, and her parents, Kelly and Tania Grogan. If you’ve been around Sioux Falls for a while, you may recognize Grogan as one of the prominent family names around the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

So, why a Brazilian restaurant?

The inspiration comes from the family’s matriarch, Tania, who was born and raised on a ranch in Brazil. When she graduated from high school, her parents gave her a trip to the United States because she had studied languages. While she thought she’d end up in a bigger city, fate brought her to Dakota State University in Madison as part of an exchange program, and that’s where she met Kelly.

“Tania has influenced all of us with her love of Brazil, family and, of course, cooking,” says Mark. “She and Kelly took Kaila and Jamie back to Brazil for visits to Tania’s family, so they got to grow up with that incredible experience.”

Mark adds that he didn’t expect to be back in the restaurant business so soon, having sold Kaladi’s with their partners a year ago in May. However, he adds, fate has a funny way of opening doors for you.

“After selling Kaladi’s, Kaila was working for a marketing company called Social Indoors, which offers indoor digital billboards. She was

down at the Stockman’s building talking with the owners of the new Convolo event space there. She peeked into the empty restaurant space, and a light bulb sort of went off. We were all down here within about an hour, and that was it.”

Everyone in the family had a hand in shaping the restaurant, from staining the reclaimed wood in shades of browns and blue to bring together ranch and beach, to hand-painting the main floor to look like the tiled sidewalk on Copacabana beach in Rio De Janeiro. Tania framed one of her beach coverups with the tiled print on it to hang on the wall.

“Everyone goes to the beach, and there are all of these beautiful, colorful cover-ups,” says Tania. “I want to frame more of them for art on the walls.”

An alcove right inside the front door is called the “family room” and features a gorgeous dining room table that Mark’s brother, Brian, made. A large metal tree of life hangs on the wall, along with a collection of old photographs, including one of Tania’s family ranch with her father on horseback.

As you head up the stairs to the loft, which holds a majority of the seating for guests, you see Brazilian-made hammocks hanging from the ceiling.

“That was an adventure getting those hung,” Mark laughs. “But Tania had one at her home in Brazil, and she told us all the homes there have hammocks for those after-lunch naps.”

The space that is now Roots of Brasil was the original Breadico site, and the massive woodfired oven has survived transition from one restaurant to the next. Mark says they are still using the oven for smoking meats and for their specialty pizzas with Brazilian-infused flavors.

The menu was as carefully crafted as the restaurant’s décor, thanks to Jamie Grogan, who has been in the business for 30 years,

Tuesday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday: Closed 201 N. Weber Avenue (605) 271-1498 rootsofbrasil@gmail.com Find us on Facebook @ RootsofBrasil

most recently as chef at McNally’s Pub.

“He really infused the flavors and techniques he and Kaila learned from their mom,” says Mark. “We named it Roots of Brasil because Tania taught them that a variety of cultures are part of Brazilian cuisine.”

Many people picture a steakhouse when they think of Brazilian food, and Roots of Brasil certainly has that base covered, with individual steak offerings along with Churrasco, which serves four people. With that dish, you have your choice of two charbroiled meats that are served with rice, Feijoada (Brazilian stew) and four other sides like grilled pineapple, house salad, yucca root fries and collard greens.

Get a flavor of the sea with appetizers like mussels or Mariscos (shrimp, scallops and mussels) or entrees like whole red snapper or salmon risotto. Caribbean flavors are infused into the menu with jerk chicken, and you can enjoy the family’s take on comfort food with chicken or beef stroganoff made with rice instead of noodles. The menu also includes an array of Brazilian street foods like pastels, a meat-filled pastry, tacos with local Hernandez tortillas and cachorro quente – a not-yourordinary hot dog.

You can enjoy a Brazilian beer, Argentinian wine or a nonalcoholic drink with your dinner, while rhythmic bossa nova music plays in the background.

A ceramic tile on the table says, “What’s for Dessert? Ask Your Server.” Make sure you do this, because the homemade creations vary from flan to a Brazilian pave with alternating layers of creamy lemon and chocolate with cream.

The top of the menu has a Portuguese phrase that sums it all up: Onde há boa comida, há felicidade!

Where there is good food, there is happiness!