Chef John Manion isn’t afraid to take risks. El Che Steakhouse & Bar, his hit Argentine-inspired palace of carnivory, was one of the first restaurants in the city to have an all-wood-fired kitchen, a method of cooking that takes an incredible amount of labor and talent. But, as many diners know, the last few years haven’t seen all that many risky restaurants. “It seems like everything that opened post-pandemic was very safe — steakhouse, Italian steakhouse, French steakhouse,” laughs Manion. “Everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Manion isn’t waiting any longer, which is why his next restaurant, Brasero (which is definitely not a steakhouse) is opening in the next few weeks.

Fans of Manion’s previous restaurant, La Sirena Clandestina, may recognize bits of the new Brasero menu; Manion is returning to some of his favorite Brazilian flavors at the new spot. However, it won’t be strictly Brazilian at Brasero. Rather, Manion wants to interpret all of his memories of growing up in and visiting South America for a new audience. Manion also wants to branch out and serve dishes that don’t fit the wood-fired kitchen at El Che; while Brasero will have a large grill burning housemade charcoal, it will also have many of the fixtures of a more traditional kitchen. “One of the first things I can remember about food was going to a churrascaria and smelling picanha, beef dripping over charcoal. It’s a very specific memory, and I’ve been chasing it for a long time.”

Brasero will take over the spot previously occupied by Funkenhausen at 1709 West Chicago Avenue in West Town. This is something of a return home for Manion. “I started thinking about the neighborhood, where I lived for about 25 years. Thinking of the beginning of my career on Division Street, working at Mas,” says Manion. “I look back to that era wistfully, and the neighborhood speaks to me.” He is particularly excited to branch out from Fulton Market (which he calls “saturated” among other adjectives not printable here) and thinks that West Town still “has a sense of that old Chicago, Nelson Algren, Neon Wilderness.”

One centerpiece of the menu will be a take on feijoada, a beef and black bean stew that is considered the Brazilian national dish. Rather than a stew, Manion’s version is based around a giant beef shank, which is smoked then braised and served with black beans folded with bomba rice, which almost becomes a black bean risotto. “It’s a take on osso bucco with a Brazilian and midwestern sensibility,” he explains. The shank comes with various flavorful bits, including fermented collard green kimchi and an orange mostarda. “It’s going to be this sort of heroic presentation with all these little choose your own adventure dishes on the side,” says Manion.

El Che has never served chicken (Manion didn’t want to bring raw chicken into the all-wood-fired kitchen), but he’s planning to knock your socks off with chicken at Brasero. “It is very important to me that we have the most delicious slow-cooked-over-charcoal chicken in all of Chicago,” Manion says. Young birds are brined, marinated, slow roasted over charcoal, and finished on the grill, then served with fermented garlic sauce, chili oil, and Manion’s “chicken salt,” a combination of herbs, salt, and dehydrated, shattered chicken skin. For seafood lovers, Manion plans to serve grilled oysters using the flavors of northern Brazil (which are largely drawn from West African cuisine): peppers, onions, garlic, palm oil, and coconut milk.

Brasero will serve dinner seven days a week, but don’t ask Manion about brunch. “May I never do brunch again!” he says with feeling. He’s been particularly focused on hiring and training the right service team, both because many of the dishes will be unfamiliar to most Chicago diners and because he’s been unimpressed with many recent service experiences. Guests will be able to choose from 100 wines, all under $100 a bottle, as well as an extensive list of cocktails.

When will Brasero open? Soon, but it might take an extra week or so. “We’ve always been such scrappy bootstrappers, operating on a wing and a prayer,” laughs Manion. “This time, we did it like grownups, so if it takes another week, it takes another week.”