This season, B&G presents a new fine dining experience, where minimalism is combined with the excellence of local products

The B&G restaurant at the exclusive Vilalara Thalassa five-star luxury resort in Porches just launched a new concept and a carefully designed tasting menu called ‘Maré’ (Tide), created by chef Diogo Pereira and sommelier Vitaliy Lesyuk to offer diners a memorable culinary experience.

The new fine dining menu features a selection of dishes that celebrate the authenticity of regional Algarve cuisine.

“We establish and value a close connection with local producers and focus on simplicity, also taking into account the reduction of our environmental footprint. By choosing products from the region, we can shorten the time between their harvest or fishing and their use in the kitchen as much as possible, thus maximising the sustainability and preservation of local natural resources,” stated chef Diogo Pereira.

The menu

The gastronomic experience starts with ‘Mother Dough Bread’, made with national wheat flour by a local baker. It is served with naturally fermented, homemade butter, flavoured with algae from the Algarve coast.

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Chef Diogo Pereira with a sun-dried moray eel

In the trio of small Algarvian snacks, one of the highlights is the mackerel marinated with garum – a Roman seasoning made by fermenting blue fish with salt over several months. The garum used at the B&G restaurant comes from recently discovered and restored Roman vats. There is also crab delicately flavoured with Silves oranges, and the sun-dried moray eel, fried in extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with Madeira molasses and dried chillies.

The starters feature the best flavours of fish and seafood from the Algarve coast. Among the options, the ‘Carabineiro em crudo’, or raw scarlet prawn and its grilled head, from Vila Real de Santo António; the fresh scallops with arjamolho from Silves – a traditional cold soup made from tomatoes, cucumber and peppers lightly macerated with olive oil and vinegar; tuna tartare with fresh herbs and trout roe; Bonito from the Algarve coast; or the oysters from the Alvor estuary.

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Carabineiro em crudo

The fish dishes pay homage to those who dedicate their lives to the sea and fishing, with three dishes that capture the essence of the best the region has to offer: grunt fish with goose barnacles (percebes) from the rugged Sagres cliffs; a grouper stew; or the ’one-sided’ tuna, cooked on one side only with salted bacon and served with a generous, semi-dry Madeira wine.

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Duck with Óbidos sour cherry (ginja) sauce

For the meat dishes, sourced from Portugal’s best pastures, there are also three options to choose from: Black pig’ from the Alentejo plains; matured Arouquesa stake (a cattle breed from Portugal) accompanied by boiled corn, slow-cooked with fig tree wood ash – a technique that dates back to the Aztecs; or the duck that has been aged for five days served with an Óbidos sour cherry (ginja) sauce.

To finish, the B&G restaurant presents four irresistible desserts inspired by the best and most authentic flavours of the region. A refreshing dessert of Algarve tangerines with various textures and flavoured with pennyroyal; chocolate and carob, the ‘black gold” of the Algarve; or the pastel de nata reinvented by Mr. António, master pastry chef for over three decades, an example of Vilalara’s history and glamour. Also noteworthy is the liqueur soufflé, an icon of Vilalara, on its menu since 1972, made from medronho firewater and honey from the Monchique hills.

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Grouper stew

The new B&G dining experience at Vilalara Thalassa Resort is available from €98 for the 6 ‘moments’ option, which includes bread, snacks, starter, main course, dessert and petit-fours.

It is also possible to opt for the 7 ‘moments’ experience, starting at €118, which includes bread, snacks, starter, fish dish, meat dish, dessert and petit-fours.

The B&G restaurant is open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 7pm to 10pm, for both guests and the general public.

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