Tapisco Porto, one of the most anticipated gastro openings in the neighboring country
That ** Portugal ** is already a premier dining destination It is something that we are not going to discover at this point. And while it is true that this is a reality that extends throughout the country, the panorama of Porto and Lisbon, its two main cities, is especially effervescent.
Because, although Lisbon is already a global culinary capital and Porto has been going strong for a few years, far from being satisfied, both cities continue to explore formats and continue to see projects born which add up to an increasingly interesting scene.
Few countries offer, like Portugal, the opportunity to get to know two gastronomic capitals of this magnitude separated by just 90 minutes by train, so a combined getaway to both cities can be the ultimate experience that convinces you that the portuguese gastronomy It is actually much more than you imagined.
And so that you have where to start, forgetting topics and discovering a culinary Portugal that will surprise you, here is a small guide with some of the most interesting openings of recent months.
Euskalduna Studio: a ten-course menu at a single table
PORT
** EUSKALDUNA STUDIO **
Last year's opening in the city, and I would almost dare to say that in the country, came from the hand of Vasco Coelho Santos, formed among others in elBulli, Mugaritz, Arzak or the London-based Viajante, is a new format in the city and a play on words between the chef's name (Basque) and his stay in the Basque Country.
Beyond those winks, what there is is a single table, without separation between the kitchen and the living room, that somehow emulates the comfort and intimacy of a domestic dining room.
The menu consists of ten dishes, based on local products from small producers, and it is one of the experiences of contemporary kitchen more personal and different than can be found right now in the north of the country.
** SEMEA **
The new creature of Vasco Coelho Santos -continuing with the play on words related to his name, Semea means son in Basque and whole grain in Portuguese. – opens its doors in the central Rua das Flores and is based on national and seasonal product.
Its offer is based on portions to share and simpler dishes than in the Euskalduna Estudio: bread with sardines and peppers, veal liver with onions and mushrooms or their own version of the classic bacalhau á braz They are an example of the portions of contained prices (between €4 and €12) that together with wines from small producers and craft beers make up the menu.
It only has 25 seats, so Make a reservation or go early.
Semea, the new from Vasco Coelho Santos
PORTO TAPISCO
Henrique Sa Pessoa He is one of the most mediatic chefs in Portugal. His restaurant **Alma** (Lisbon) got the Michelin star last year. This, together with its other four stores in the capital, her TV shows and her cookbooks make him a national celebrity, which does not prevent him from working at a very high culinary level.
A few months ago I opened Tapisco Porto, his first location outside of Lisbon. Tapisco, the name, is a hybrid between Tapas and Petiscos (the Portuguese version of this gastronomic format) and defines the local proposal: platters to share and small individual portions that this chef, who is very knowledgeable about the culinary scene on both sides of the border, rightly proposes by combining the best of both traditions to give rise to a novel proposal with contained prices.
CLAM
In the bolhao neighborhood, in the center, Sofia Gomes in the living room and João Cura in the kitchen -trained among others in Two Skies and Monvinic, both in Barcelona– offer contemporary cuisine at affordable prices in a very charming space.
The tasting menu It is offered at €55 but it is worth paying attention to the executive menu that they serve at noon on weekdays at the unbeatable price of €15.
By the way, the name of the place – Almeja – has nothing to do with seafood. clam, In Portuguese, it means something like crave, long for or desire.
Tapisco Porto, the first Henrique Sá Pessoa store outside the capital
MARRIAGE
Miguel Castro e Silva is a classic of Portuguese cuisine, one of those essential chefs who mark the transition between traditional and contemporary cuisine And, fortunately, it is still active.
Proof of this is that just a few months ago he joined his four Lisbon stores and the restaurant DeCastro from Vilanova de Gaia, Casario , a charming restaurant with a tiny terrace overlooking the mouth of the Douro, at the Gran Cruz House Hotel.
At night it offers tasting menus for €48 and €58, while at midday the formula is based on executive menus with four (€32) or five (€36) courses. A unique opportunity to put yourself in the hands of one of the greats of Portuguese cuisine.
Miguel Castro e Silva has just opened Casario at the Gran Cruz House Hotel
LISBON
FINE TAVERN
Andre Magalhaes is a unique gastronomic personality, a cultured cook and traveler who seven years ago revolutionized the culinary scene of the capital with his Rua das Flores Tavern.
Last spring this Fine Tavern opened at the ** Hotel Le Consulat ** which, as its name suggests, follows the same principles as the original tavern but offers them in a setting more typical of haute cuisine.
A journey through local and contemporary cuisine offered in a space with spectacular views of Largo Camões, the heart of the Chiado district.
FISHING
Diogo Noronha worked, among others, in the team of the Roca brothers before returning to Lisbon and taking charge of the kitchen of the disappeared Pedro and O Lobo.
A year ago he opened this new restaurant, in the heart of Prince royal, the fashionable area of the city, in which pays homage to the product of the sea from Portugal through two tasting menus and a short menu that includes proposals such as the Algarve prawns with seasonal cabbage, Madras curry butter, radish and herring roe.
Also noteworthy is the squid tartare with pickled yolk, green apple and dill; and the oysters, both plain and seasoned with cucumber water, candied lemon and salicornia or with foie gras, beetroot and Szechuan pepper. attention to your proposal cocktails with and without alcohol.
Fishing, in the heart of Príncipe Real
COLD FACE
A classic of the city's traditional cuisine that reopened its doors, under new management, just a few weeks ago. The perfect space to get to know the atmosphere of the old Lisbon food houses, with his classics tiled walls and wooden partitions separating the reserved ones, and dive into the country's culinary classics far from the clichés in a centennial space in the liveliest area of Príncipe Real.
** CEIA **
Peter Pena Bastos Until last season he directed what was at the time the revelation restaurant in Portugal outside the big cities, the restaurant of Herdade do Sporao, in the Alentejo.
After a few months of impasse and At just 28 years old, he opened his new proposal this summer, Ceia, a restaurant in unique table and changing gastronomic proposal in the neighborhood of Grace.
The restaurant, an 18th century mansion, welcomes 14 guests at each dinner in a careful space designed by the architecture studio Aires Mateus.
The menu, between 13 and 15 steps, begins with an aperitif in the courtyard of the palace to later give way to dishes like kid tartare with egg yolk and vinegar hokaido pumpkin with chanterelles, nasturtium and pistachios or figs with cardamom and lemongrass.
The menu costs €100 (150 with the wine pairing) and is one of the newest experiences in the culinary scene of the city.
Ceia, a restaurant with a single table and a changing gastronomic proposal in the Graça neighborhood
MEADOW
In a old canning factory a stone's throw from the cathedral, the cook Antonio Galapito Prado opened a few months ago, a restaurant in which he projects what he learned in his journey through some of London's most interesting restaurants.
The space, which combines elements of Nordic aesthetics with others of an industrial nature and a marked air alfacinha (as the inhabitants of Lisbon are known), it is a small gastronomic oasis in the center of the most touristic area.
Natural and biodynamic wines and a changing menu, in which simple, economical and effective proposals appear, such as the cockles with spinach and fried bread, the heart cabbage with whey and walnuts or the saber fish with nasturtium and radishes are the main hallmarks of it.
Prado, where the Nordic aesthetic merges with the industrial style and the alfacinha air
TWO OPENINGS
One recent, the other imminent. Still too fresh, in any case, to be able to offer an overview of what they serve. Even so, considering the names behind them and how little is known about them, we cannot fail to mention them, if only because they go a long way from what will mark the city gastronomically in that 2019 that is already appearing.
On one side Martin Berasategui, who opened his restaurant ** 50 Seconds last week. ** Because they are precisely 50 seconds in elevator and 120 meters those that separate the spectacular restaurant, located in the Vasco da Gama Tower, of land in the Parque das Nações neighborhood.
It is not necessary to add much more to be sure that the restaurant from San Sebastian, currently awarded 8 Michelin stars, will be one of the openings of the year.
The same happens with the restaurant of the ** Hotel Bairro Alto, ** overlooking a Largo de Camões that with it, the aforementioned Taberna Fina and the proximity of the Taberna da Rua das Flores becomes a nerve center of the gastronomy of the city.
Last October it was announced that from the beginning of the year he will be in charge Nuno Mendez, the most international Portuguese chef.
After launching his London career with an ephemeral and dazzling The Loft Project, earning a star for his Viajante and opening the Taberna do Mercado, he currently works at the ** Chiltern Firehouse **, also in the British capital, and with this new proposal he in front of his first restaurant in Lisbon.
Fifty Seconds, the new by Martín Berasategui in Lisbon