Music buffs know the Big Pink as the place where the Band and Bob Dylan hung out. But fans in Rhode Island of Portuguese food know how the term refers to the ever-expanding pink stucco building on Warren Avenue that houses the Madeira Restaurant. The pink theme, which also permeates the indoor decor, was once explained to me as being reminiscent of sunsets over this fabled Portuguese isle.

Certainly, the food is as close as you can get in our part of New England. Traditional dishes from Madeira, including grilled shish kebabs, grilled squid, and fresh scabbard fish, flown in from the island, are featured on a menu that also has a "secret" Madeira sauce atop several items.

The male waiters are Portuguese, though not always Madeiran. Our waiter, Marco Franco, hailed from the Azores, and his extremely polite and attentive manner made us feel quite pampered. He gave detailed answers to all our questions about the differences in the bacalhau (dried codfish) dishes and the three kinds of beef shish kebabs (one used top round, one 20 ounces of sirloin and another 18 ounces of filet mignon). Each was served with the metal skewer on which they were cooked, hanging from a wrought iron hook above a plate — a very medieval-looking device, as our friend Gary observed.

Bill and he were in beef heaven, with Gary diving into a pan-seared sirloin topped with mushrooms in a "house specialty sauce" ($14.95), and Bill opting for the sirloin version of the Madeiran kebabs ($21.95). Gary’s wife, Marie, chose one of her long-time favorites, carne de porco Aletejana ($13.95), marinated pork cubes with roasted potatoes and littlenecks. And I ventured into the land of scabbard fish ($14.95).

Testosterone-breath poured from the guys’ end of the table, as they sliced a piece of meat, tasted it and exhaled sighs of delight, then started the process all over again, with barely mumbled grunts to their spouses. In true Portuguese style, these dinners were accompanied by both rice and potatoes, the latter those characteristic thick potato chips that you just can’t stop eating.

Marie and I were more vocal about our meals. She declared hers to be one of the best Aletejana dishes she’d ever had, with tender pork chunks, plentiful littlenecks, and a delicious sauce infusing the potatoes with its robust spiciness. Indeed, there were sliced hot peppers atop her generous portion, and she was very happy indeed.

I struggled a bit more with my scabbard fish — a large elongated species found in warm, southern seas — because of its boniness and slippery skin. But its flesh was very mild, almost cod-like, and it was heaped with sauteed onions, which were a nice complement. It was accompanied by rice, steamed vegetables, and cubes of fried cornmeal. The cornmeal cubes are similar to fried polenta, with warm pre-cooked cornmeal very fluffy in the middle of a crispy exterior. Yum.

Appetizers at Madeira are three kinds of littlenecks, one with chourico and peppers, flame-grilled chourico itself, fried calamari, chicken wings, and shrimp in a wine and butter sauce. We’ve always favored the shrimp (camarao alinho, $8.95) and it was wonderful here, with plenty of garlic in the sauce. We also tried the chicken wings, because they were billed as "Madeira style." They seemed somewhat dry, but came with a hot, spicy dip.

Gary, Marie, and I shared a half-pitcher of sangria ($8.95), with at least two portions apiece. Though Marie found it too sweet, I loved its fruitiness and after the wine element hit my head, I began to just nibble the apples, oranges, and lemons — which probably had the highest alcohol content of all! Madeira has a full bar, with a wide selection of Portuguese wines, including the justly famous vinho verdes.

Desserts roamed Portuguese and Continental traditions, with rice pudding, flan and bean pudding on the one hand, and cheesecake and chocolate mousse on the other. Bill chose the chocolate mousse, a mound drizzled with white and dark chocolate syrups, Marie went for the flan, and I for the rice pudding. Gary just requested an extra spoon. The guys, once again, hung out in cholesterol land, with the mousse, while we women slowly savored the delicately flavored flan and the creamy rice pudding.

The simple elegance of our surroundings — white walls with more than two-dozen (real) hanging plants, arched and paned windows on the street side, a curving wooden staircase to the second floor banquet room — were not lost on us. And, of course, the underskirts on the tables, the napkins, and the flowers in the carpet were, what else? Pink. I need to take a trip to the real Madeira one day and check out those sunsets!

Note: The next best thing might be a trip to New Bedford, July 31-August 3, for the 89th Annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, New England’s largest festival of Portuguese food, with malassadas, Portuguese fried dough; traditional stone bread, baked like an English muffin and served with fresh garlic and parsley; beef kebabs, with special spices, a la Madeira; and much, much more. For info, call (508) 992-6911 or check out: www.portuguesefeast.com.