Portuguese Chefs' Secret to Sucess

Product quality, team performance and family support are some of the ingredients for success in haute cuisine

The 2017 edition of the Michelin  Guide, two stars were awarded to two new Portuguese restaurants and the first star to the other 7 restaurants, totaling 21 award-winning restaurants, five with two stars and sixteen with one star. "There is a structure and a great team around the chef",- says chef Benoit Sinthon, who won the second star of Il Gallo d'Oro in Funchal, having been holding one star for eight years.

Chef Rui Paula was awarded the first star at the Boa Nova Tea House in Leça da Palmeira, but says he will not "stay here." "We will continue to receive the [Michelin guide] inspectors, because we have all the conditions to go further." The chef runs three restaurants and has a team of 70 people.

Vitor Matos, from Porto's Antiqvvm restaurant, also won the first star after a year of opening. "We are nobody without our pillars, whether at home or at work," he says. What you are looking for in the kitchen is "a perfect harmony between the ingredients and a story to tell".

The Yeatman's chef in Gaia, Ricardo Costa, has won the second star and believes that it is due to the consistent work he has done in recent years. Henrique Sá Pessoa (on the photo), Alma's chef in Chiado, won the first star and recalls that his team has worked for this, since the project of the previous establishment with the same name.

The Loco (on the photo), in Lisbon, has the genius of chef Alexandre Silva, who was surprised to receive the first Michelin star for his restaurant, that has less than a year of existence. "Portugal is changing, the guide has more respect for us, our kitchen and the new wave of Portuguese cuisine," he stated.

José Avillez, the holder of two stars in the Belcanto in Lisbon, justifies the increase in the number of Portuguese restaurants in the Michelin Guide. The chef believes that establishments have "more consistency, to have more customers and more tourism, which allows financially viable projects."

Source: RTP