Portugal has five new Michelin stars and a newcomer in the Algarve

Four Portuguese restaurants — including Vistas in the Algarve — were awarded their first star ever at the Michelin gala event that was held yesterday in Seville, Spain, while Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in the north of Portugal joined the country’s two-star elite.

The not-so-good news is that Portugal still does not have a three-star restaurant, and three restaurants — two of them in the Algarve — actually lost a star.

But first, the good news: chef Rui Palma’s Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira received an extra star this year and now boasts two, alongside José Avillez’s Belcanto (Lisbon), Benoît Sinthon’s Il Gallo D’Oro (Funchal), Dieter Koschina’s Vila Joya (Algarve), Hans Neuner’s Ocean (Algarve) and Ricardo Costa’s The Yeatman (Vila Nova de Gaia), which all retained their two stars.

Portugal’s four newcomers are Martin Berasategui’s Fifty Seconds (Lisbon), Vincent Farges’ Epur (Lisbon), Diogo Rocha’s Mesa de Lemos (Viseu) and Rui Silvestre’s Vistas at the Monte Rei Golf & Country Club in Cacela Velha (Algarve).

The Algarve also saw four restaurants keeping their star from last year: Bon Bon in Carvoeiro (Louis Anjos), Vista in Portimão (João Oliveira), and Gusto by Heinz Beck (Heinz Beck) and São Gabriel (Leonel Pereira) in Almancil.

On the other hand, three restaurants in Portugal lost their Michelin star. One of them was L’And in Montemor-o-Velho, while the other two are based in the Algarve. Henrique Leis in Almancil and Willie’s in Vilamoura.

Chef Henrique Leis had actually asked to be excluded from the guide this year in a bid to regain ‘freedom’.

Here’s the full list of Michelin-starred restaurants in Portugal for 2020, listed alphabetically:

Two stars:
• Alma (Lisbon)
• Belcanto (Lisbon)
• Casa de Chá Boa Nova (Leça da Palmeira)
• Il Gallo d’Oro (Funchal)
• Ocean (Armação de Pêra)
• The Yeatman (Vila Nova de Gaia)
• Vila Joya (Albufeira)

One star:
• A Cozinha (Guimarães)
• Antiqvvm (Porto)
• Bon Bon (Carvoeiro)
• Casa da Calçada (Amarante)
• Eleven (Lisbon)
• Epur (Lisbon)
• Feitoria (Lisbon)
• Fifty Seconds (Lisbon)
• Fortaleza do Guincho (Cascais)
• Gusto by Heinz Beck (Almancil)
• G Pousada (Bragança)
• Lab (Sintra)
• Loco (Lisbon)
• Mesa de Lemos (Silgueiros, Viseu)
• Midori (Sintra)
• Pedro Lemos (Porto)
• São Gabriel (Almancil)
• Vista (Portimão)
• Vistas (Vila Nova de Cacela)
• William (Funchal)

Source: The Algarve Resident