Fogo De Chao Opens New Restaurant
When Fogo De Chao decided to open a restaurant in the Chicago area, they looked to Chicago Scenic to help create a major decorative element that would add to the ambiance and character of the dining room. The Brazil-based steak house is famous for its form of cooking, a southern Brazilian culinary tradition of more than three centuries, that originated by slowly roasting meat over open flame pits.

Project Manager Ken Zommer and Job Lead Mike Zaremba worked with architect Keith Curtis of Leiber Cooper Associates to create a fully functioning 11-foot-tall by 27-foot-wide wall of cascading water in the main room of the restaurant. The waterwall was created by first applying mortar to create linear texture. Paint Department Head Kevin Taylor then worked onsite to apply a faux painting technique to simulate Brazilian slate. Attaching fiberglass-reinforced concrete castings of railroad ties to the wall created the final touch.

The waterwall is engineered with a reservoir at the top that is pumped full of water allowing for a dazzling and continuous flow of cascading water around the concrete castings and over the water-wall’s surface. The décor was installed in late June and the restaurant is scheduled to open late this summer.

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