The beginning of Brasiliero: Moisturiser, a halved grill and a reservation book of rejected guests.
A Brazilian lunch at Brasileiro U Zelené žáby
"We were offered a space near the Old Town Square. It had a small kitchen, so we had to come up with something we didn't need so much space for," says Tomáš Karpíšek of the impulse that made him bring churrasco to Prague.
Interviews in a hotel room
So he went to Brazil again with Michal Chovanec, Radek Macura and Radek Chaloupka. "We took a week to buy a grill, needles, knives, all the equipment, and above all to bring the Brazilians," says Tomáš. They put an advert in "Annonca" in Rio that they were hiring a cook for a churrascaria in Prague, and the hotel made a selection process.
"About a hundred Brazilians came to the hotel room for the interview. We gave each other roles, for example, I was flipping through a photographic publication about Prague with them, showing them Charles Bridge and pointing out that snow falls here in winter," laughs Radek Macura, general manager of Brasileiro U Radnice.
Coconuts in the snow
They picked two women and four men, paid for their tickets and were waiting for them in Prague in the middle of winter. "We bought down jackets for them and picked up the Brazilians at the airport. They couldn't understand how it was possible to have blue skies and be so cold. They weren't used to the cold, so they got tired quickly. So we took them to the supermarket to buy lotions. One of the Brazilians kept putting on lotion, but it was getting worse and worse, so he went to the doctor and he found out that he had been using shampoo and conditioner on his face all the time instead of cream," Radek adds.
Installing the grill by brute force
They had a lot of nerves in Brasileiro U Radnice when installing the grill. "We brought it from Brazil, and found out on the stairs that we just couldn't get it in. We had no choice but to cut the grill in half, bring it to the kitchen and weld it back together. And then forcefully get it to the designated place," recalls chef Martin Matys.
But the stress did not end there. The grill needed high gas pressure, so it didn't burn after being plugged in. Just before the restaurant opened, the gas pipes had to be changed.
Reservation book of rejected guests
The interest of the guests in Brasileiro U Radnice exceeded expectations right from the start. A reservation book was therefore created to record the guests who were turned away. When the book filled up, there was nothing to prevent the signing of a lease for additional space and the opening of Brasileiro Slovanský dům in 2004.
