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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
July 21 - July 27, 2005 Edition
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Edibles:
A taste of Brazil at Five Corners July 21, 2005 By Tony Omer
The shrubs have recently been cut back and the shadowing canopy over the front has been removed, opening up the corner. There are tables shaded by umbrellas outside where, while eating a meal or just having coffee with a fresh Brazilian style pastry, one can watch the summer traffic of people and cars at one of the Vineyard's busiest bottlenecks. If you prefer to eat inside there is usually an empty spot at one of the many tables inside the light and airy dining room where air conditioning is being installed this week. Tropical is a rodizio-style restaurant. Rodizio is a method of preparing and serving meat that originated in Southern Brazil. It is characterized by serving a variety of meats that are usually barbecued on spits and sliced directly from the spit onto your plate. Beef, beef ribs, pork, pork ribs and chicken are just a few of the offerings available for lunch and dinner. With salads and vegetable dishes aplenty, vegetarians will find suitable choices too. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus at Tropical offer everything from typical North American breakfast and lunch items to dishes you won't find too many places outside of Brazil. You're bound to find something you will like. For breakfast, which is served all day, I ordered a fritatta, a tasty omelet-like combination of eggs, onions, scallions, Brazilian sausage, potatoes and cheese. The menu offered a wealth of choices, including blueberry pancakes, French toast, corned beef hash, or eggs any style. Creative customers may also design their own omelet. Tropical is not a fancy place, and the prices are extremely reasonable. Two of us had a hot lunch for just over $10. The lunch and dinner buffet is a deal at $5.90 per pound. The buffet offers salad fixings, black and brown beans, rice, and a choice of a number of vegetables, along with stew-like dishes, sometimes containing meats, fish, vegetables, bananas, and occasional things I have never heard of. The braised meats are sliced directly to your plate. The variety from day to day has made it a daily stop for a number of people who work in the Five Corners area. Enterprising owner Antonio Silva is a native Brazilian who has lived in the United States since 1988. He has spent all but one of those years on the Vineyard. Mr. Silva has had extensive experience in local dining establishments. He started out in Edgartown, working at David Ryan's and Chesca's for a total of eight years, and then was a chef at Lattanzi's for three years. Most recently, he was co-owner of the former Ipanema, a popular Brazilian restaurant on Vineyard Haven harbor, now the site of the Mediterranean. He now operates The Tropical Restaurant and the Tropical Bakery in Edgartown. The freshly baked goods from the bakery are also available daily at the restaurant. His personnel all seem eager to please and will go out of their way to accommodate customers' requests. There are meats and Brazilian food items for sale in a small grocery corner in the back. If you want to try something a little different, a little bit of Brazil, try the Tropical. |
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