Maybe it’s just our imagination. (Admittedly, it likes to run wild). Maybe it’s that December has been feeling a lot like April. (Not that anyone’s complaining.) Whatever the reason, from bars with beds to safari-tricked clubs, New York is having a southern-hemisphere moment.

Time for dinner. Chef Claude Troigros may be all French pedigree (his family runs the Michelin darling Troisgros), but his heart and his toque are strictly south of the border (in addition to running Blue Door at the Delano in Miami Beach, Claude has a few restos in Rio).

His latest, the just-opened Caviar and Banana “Brasserio,” as they’re calling it (to which we say: “whatevero”), serves Brazilian dishes with ingredients you haven’t seen since your last trip to Salvador (goiabada, catupiry) with a français twist. Which means foie gras is paired with caramelized mango, giant ravioli are filled with taro root, and heavenly quail comes stuffed with yucca. There are churrasco skewers and moqueca (coconut stews) aplenty. Just don’t miss the passionfruit crepe.

The colorful banquettes may be the cutest we’ve ever seen; the wooden side tables in the bar may be the most coyly pornographic. All par for the course in Brazil.

Oh. Yeah, this is the space that used to be R-cc-‘s.

But let’s just try to put that New York moment behind us, shall we?

Caviar & Banana, 12 East 22nd Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South (212-353-0500).