Just a few months after Taste of Brasil closed up shop at its former location at 906 S. Oak Park Ave., co-owner and chef Christiane Pereira is ready to try again at the corner of Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue.
Taste of Brasil closed its doors in August after a new owner of the property declined to renew the restaurant’s lease.
Co-owners Pereira and Andre Otero, Pereira’s husband, said at the time that business was strong, but the lease renewal is what forced them out of business.
Pereira and Otera were concerned that it would be difficult to find a new location, because available commercial is much scarcer these days than when they opened Taste of Brasil in 2009.
The new restaurant will be located at 136 N. Oak Park Ave., at the site of the former Fresko juice bar – but it’s not going to be a Taste of Brasil, Pereira said in a recent interview.
“I do already have a plan, but I just want to make everybody curious,” she said. “I do have a name, I do have a menu. I have everything ready.”
Pereira said that although her husband is a co-owner in the venture, the new restaurant will be her business.
“You’re going to find me here every day,” she said.
Though Pereira was reluctant to reveal much about the new restaurant, she did say that customers are likely to find some of the Taste of Brasil dishes on the menu.
“Taste of Brasil was very authentic Brazilian homemade meals,” she said. “But we are going to be innovating.”
She hopes to have the restaurant open in April.
And Pereira’s not stopping there. She said she hopes to eventually open another fully Brazilian restaurant.
She said her faith helped her through the closure of Taste of Brasil.
“Sometimes we go through difficult moments, but if you keep your heart on the right things, new, beautiful opportunities will come,” she said. “This for me right here is a miracle that we were able to come from very humble south Oak Park to one of the prime locations in the city.”
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
