Saturday night, we went to The Hot House for a Brazilian Baile de Carnaval, which is a traditional ball held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.
The Hot House is a not-for-profit performance space just south of downtown Chicago. They host a lot of jazz and international artists, and it's just the right size so the music sounds great, yet there's room to move around.
The event featured Brazilian food catered by Jorgina Pereira and Sinhá Elegant Cuisine. Served buffet style, the main course was Xinxim de Galinha, a delicious sauteed chicken dish served with peanuts and cashews. It was served over (or maybe next to-- my plate was pretty loaded) a bed of rice with black beans and sausage along with boiled greens and a saffron-couscous-type of side dish. It was amazing. Dessert was a layer cake with an Easter lamb cake on top of it.
Years ago, Jorgina held "events" in her home which were basically large dinner parties. These were really cool evenings where people from all over Chicago would come to be part of a group (of about 30) who would eat great Brazilian food and drink caipirinhas and guarana. I'd been hoping to run across her again, and I was glad to see that her catering business was becoming more successful.
The first round of entertainment was provided by Edilson Lima, a samba dancer and instructor. He and his female dancers were in full Carnaval dress, and after their first round of performing (accompanied by the house DJ) they gave the crowd a samba lesson. Yeah, we had a little trouble keeping up. Lima knew how to work the crowd though-- he was one of those guys who's trouble while holding a microphone. He and his group came out a few times, in other carnaval outfits as well as in street clothes.
Later in the evening, Chicago Samba took the stage and performed Brazilian pop classics like "Mas Que Nada" as well as some slower, jazzier numbers. They finished up their first set with an extended carnival samba percussion piece that had the walls and floor of the place-- along with most of the crowd-- moving.
They said this may become an annual event. It's certainly a cool way to spend the night before Easter.
Posted by jtl at March 29, 2005 03:34 PM