Meet Jeferson Finger, barbecue chef at Barbacoa – 04/10/2023 – Food

Grill chef Jeferson Finger, at the head of the Barbacoa restaurant, is the type to wear his work shirt. Even literally. In addition to managing the chain, which specializes in meat, he usually goes to the head office every day, in the São Paulo neighborhood of Itaim Bibi, puts on his uniform —a white shirt with the small symbol of an ox—, welcomes customers, serves the meat cuts meat and cleans the tables in the hall.

He also monitors the pieces that arrive at the butcher shop in the morning, inspects the barbecue on the grill and trains the team of attendants. He takes a break at 3 pm, when the kitchen stops serving, and returns at 6 pm, for a second round. When he’s not there, it’s because he’s visiting the other restaurants scattered around the city of São Paulo. Off is only on Saturdays.

Finger can still be seen traveling frequently to various corners of the world, roasting sirloin steak and filet mignon for Arab sheikhs and rockers like guitarist Slash, from the band Guns N’ Roses —whom he personally invited to his steakhouse on one of the occasions when that the musician played in São Paulo. Many of the famous figures he has served are visible on his Instagram profile, which has 52,000 followers.

The 45-year-old from Paraná thus became a kind of ambassador for Brazilian barbecue.

In addition to running Barbacoa, a chain of steakhouses that have units in Brazil, Japan and Italy, he is responsible for coordinating tastings and dinners in other countries under the umbrella of Abiec, the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporters, which he has been part of since 2001.

The chef says he has already presented the Brazilian cut in 27 countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, China, Singapore, Germany, Iran and France.

These tastings are usually held at international fairs or at dinners in hotels and embassies. In February, Finger says he even served a ton of sirloin steak in Dubai at an association event. One of his biggest dinners gathered 7,000 people at the Élysée Palace, in France, the official residence of the president of that country.

He usually personally takes care of the whole process, from selecting the meat to grilling it. According to him, Brazilian barbecue is well accepted by the public. “We are very well seen abroad and well received. People know that when there is Brazilian barbecue, it is synonymous with good meat”, he says.

In São Paulo, he insists on being in the hall of the Itaim Bibi unit of his restaurant. “That’s how I started. Serving the customer makes all the difference, because I ask for feedback, I listen to people. I love doing this, I don’t do it out of obligation. Attending and welcoming is my life.”

Finger was born in Sulina, a city in the west of Paraná, 430 kilometers from Curitiba, and comes from a family of grill chefs. The meat tradition started with his grandfather, who was the town’s butcher. Family members were even invited to be the roasters at regional festivals in the municipality. “I’ve always really enjoyed working with meat, from slaughter to grilling,” he says.

His life in São Paulo began in 1994. He followed in the footsteps of friends from the South who moved to the Southeast to work in steakhouses between the 1980s and 1990s, a time when the capital of São Paulo saw the pop up of all-you-can-eat steakhouses, previously restricted to road sides.

He worked at traditional addresses at the time, such as Ponteio, Búfalo Grill and Grupo Sérgio houses. Until a colleague with whom he shared a house and who worked at Barbacoa recommended him a vacancy at the traditional meat house.

“For those who worked in steakhouses, there were two dreams: Barbacoa and Fogo de Chão”, he says. The restaurant at Itaim Bibi had been opened in 1990, by the gaucho Ademar do Carmo, and innovated by bringing special meats on a rotation system to an upscale neighborhood —the house thus became part of a small group of steakhouses that invested in in prime cuts in the city.

Finger started out there as a meat handler, carrying the skewers around the room. He rose through the ranks and, a year after his arrival, joined Abiec, based on a recommendation made by Ademar do Carmo.

Today, he is the general manager of the steakhouse, which has six units in Brazil (in addition to three in São Paulo, there are others in Campinas, Salvador and Brasília), one in Milan and nine in Japan, in the cities of Tokyo and Osaka. The cuts served outside are the same ones found around here, such as rump steak, rump steak, flank steak and termite. They all work on a rotation basis and regional adaptations are made at the buffet.

The headquarters, in Itaim Bibi, continues to be the busiest in the network. There, an average of 15 tons of meat are consumed per month by an audience of around 21,000 people. The unit is the only one in the country that operates on a rotation system: in other locations, the menu is à la carte.

The expansion of Barbacoa to other countries had already started in 1994, before Finger joined. But he helped grow the business. Today, the grill chef is responsible for training the team sent to other countries and monitors the standard of the restaurants, traveling to these places every year.

Finger is also at the head of Barbacoa’s group of partners, which also includes brands such as the Graal chain, of bus stations, and the restaurant Due Cuochi, in São Paulo. In December, the partners also acquired 50% of the Adega Santiago group, which includes the Luso-Iberian cuisine restaurant of the same name and other businesses such as Casa Europa. The new management should open a third Adega Santiago address in São Paulo.

How to prepare a barbecue at home, by Jeferson Finger

• Start thinking about the barbecue the day before, choosing the meat and, if necessary, defrosting it properly, which should always happen inside the fridge.
• Also outline what other recipes will be served, such as side dishes
• Calculate about two kilos of coal for every kilo of meat
• Choose pieces and cuts with good marbling and good fat cover
• Make cuts in order to obtain tall slices of meat, which maintains juiciness and helps control the point. In the case of picanha, bife de chorizo ​​and ancho, for example, the steaks must be around four centimeters high
• Pay attention to the temperature of the grill. Regardless of point preference, it is important to maintain the juiciness of the meat
• Season the barbecue with just salt, just before grilling. Leave sauces and other seasonings aside for each guest to season to taste.