Henrique Sá Pessoa, one of the promises of Portuguese haute cuisine
Henrique Sa Pessoa it is perhaps the great white hope of Portuguese haute cuisine.
His search for the roots of Portuguese gastronomy and his desire to lighten it up, update it and focus his work on the local product peek into technical but apparently simple dishes.
And yet his proposal still seems halfway to materialize. Let's start with the essentials: in Alma you eat from well to very well.
Sá Pessoa bets on the roots of Portuguese gastronomy but always with the aim of lightening it up and updating it
Modern kitchen in the best sense of the expression, with good product and well adjusted cooking points.
If anything, it is still excessively conservative and obvious, too complacent with the Lisbon palate. Review of the Portuguese cookbook here and an Asian touch there, but without taking big risks.
Something lacking precisely what should define the restaurant: of a certain soul and personality.
The room, dark and bare, joins the trend that seems to prevail now in the Portuguese capital
Portuguese creative cuisine –or rather its interpreters– still seems lack of some creative independence.
Perhaps it is necessary that a new generation, which could well champion Sá Pessoa, look less at its Spanish neighbors, at the technological legacy of techno-emotional cuisine, assembly and company and focus on develop and update the enormously rich Portuguese cookbook.
Nods to the traditional recipe book with oriental brushstrokes make up a light and pleasant cuisine
Thus, well-appointed dishes parade around the table, such as the squid with its broth, chickpeas and tomato; the gourmand review of the cod à brás or the excellent sea bass from the Azores with 'Bulhao Pato' clam rice and codium.
Continuous nods to traditional recipes, light, fresh and precise broths and oriental brushstrokes that are reflected in a light and pleasant cuisine, accessible to all audiences.
Alma: one of the best gastro options in Lisbon
The wine list –almost exclusively local, something that our neighbors apply regularly without major complexes– is interesting, although probably falls short for the local's aspirations.
The room, dark and bare –as seems to be the norm lately in Lisbon– it is more cool than comfortable and seems designed more for the stylist's delight than for the client's own comfort.
To finish, let's go back to the beginning: do you eat well? Yes. But expectations will have to be moderated as long as Sá Pessoa does not decide to take a leap forward and put into play all the potential that is intuited.
Quality and well-adjusted cooking points define the modern cuisine of Sá Pessoa
Address: Rua Anchieta, 15, 1200-023 Lisbon See map
Telephone: +351 213 470 650