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At 50 kilometers from Faro airport and 260 kilometers from Lisbon international airport, in the southernmost point of Portugal, lies the Algarve, one of those exclusive enclaves with nearly 200 kilometers of coastline that is always worth a visit at any time of the year. Its breathtaking natural beauty, picturesque fishing villages, golden limestone cliffs, spectacular white sandy beaches and excellent gastronomy make it one of the most touristically developed regions in Europe. It could be summed up simply with the word “light”, as the Algarve is a paradise constantly illuminated by the sun and a practically perfect climate all year round.
A luxury resort
With this starting point, a few days ago I made a trip to this privileged area of the Atlantic. A few minutes away from the peaceful village of Armaçao de Pera, the Vila Vita Parc Resort&Spa, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, caught my attention. A five-star luxury resort that is considered one of the best in Europe.
It is a 22-hectare resort, which houses two-story Moorish-style buildings with a traditional touch that denote elegance and exclusivity, as well as private villas surrounded by lush subtropical gardens. And on top of a rocky cliff is its real jewel, the Ocean restaurant (**Michelin), considered one of the best in Portugal.
A space flooded with light and sea, with capacity for 36 diners, which shines in all its splendor through large windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Its elegant interiors compose a natural palette of blue and light tones reflecting the surrounding coastal landscape.
In the midst of that setting, a collection of magnificent corals that fill its shelves and refined Murano glassware in the shapes of jellyfish stand out. It is complemented by a sustainable art tapestry by Algarve-based designer Vanessa Barragao, titled Bleached Coral, a mix of natural white tones, creams and neutral colors with corals forming loose hanging threads that match the style of the restaurant.
“When I was invited to Vila Vita Parc I met Ocean, and I immediately knew it was the perfect place where I wanted to install my work, because it is a place that reflects and balances my artistic skills in harmony with the interior of the restaurant,” says the artist.
An Austrian at the top of Portuguese cuisine
Ocean combines the beauty of its surroundings, the professionalism of the team, its haute cuisine and the mastery and creativity of its chef Hans Neuner, born in Tyrol (Austria). At a very young age he began to help in his parents’ restaurant, and after studying cooking for three years in his country, he traveled the world on the Crysta Symphony cruise ship in order to gain experience. In 1999 he joined Karlheinz Hauser and his team at the prestigious Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin. He continued his training in the kitchens of the Dochester restaurant in London, the Mallorcan Tristán and later in the kitchen of Seven Seas at the Hotel Süllberg in Hamburg.
In 2007, he landed at the Algarve restaurant after looking at some photographs of the place. “When I saw the panoramic views of the sea, I thought, What the hell! I’ll travel down there and see for myself.” So he took up the challenge and quickly turned it into a beacon on the Portuguese gastronomic scene, bringing his knowledge of French food to delve into the essence of the Portuguese pantry, taking advantage of its recipe book and the wide variety of top-quality local products from across the seas.
The challenge was not easy (he only had a team of four people) but they played it safe, with a French-influenced cuisine, bringing all the ingredients from abroad, until, later on, they started using Portuguese products and from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula.
This work was rewarded in 2009, when he was awarded his first Michelin star, and two years later he was awarded his second. Hans believes that “every day we do things better and we are moving in the right direction, so it is possible that we will get it”.
Flavor Explorer
Hans’ cuisine is clear, transparent and deep, inspired by authentic flavors and with the sea always very present on the tables in various versions, in every dish, in every gesture… A fighter and nonconformist, the chef dreams of cooking for Quentin Tarantino. There must be a reason why his kitchen has a poster of the movie Pulp Fiction on the wall.
Last year was the 30th anniversary of the resort, and for the occasion, Neuner created a 12-step tasting menu called “On the Route of Discoveries”, the result of an exhaustive research carried out by him together with two of his trusted chefs from his team (now 15 people), which took them on a trip from Setúbal to Goa, India, with stops in Cape Verde, Ghana and Mozambique, and which was a resounding success.
Following the route of the Portuguese explorers, the Austrian chef continues his unwavering love of adventure by exploring flavors, and this time he has followed in the footsteps of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, the first European to reach Brazil in a caravel that set sail in 1500 from Lisbon to the Indies, although not everything went as planned and a slight detour due to the winds of the route ended with the ship in a port on the coast that was named Porto Seguro, in Bahia. Thus, by chance, the discovery of what is now Brazil took place.
This has led the Alpine chef, along with two of his cooks, Marcio and Thomas, and photographer, Vasco Celio, to embark earlier this year on a fifteen-day research trip deep into the streets of Brazil, where they have been inspired by its culture and the country’s culinary treasures, with the Amazon rainforest as the perfect background in the fusion of indigenous roots that has explored the richness of the flavors and ingredients of each of its areas.
“We traveled for two weeks with our hearts to the popular streets of Brazil and the Amazon rainforest, where we discovered a treasure trove of tropical fruits and extraordinary ingredients for the creation of our new menu. Along the way we met incredible people whose stories inspired us to bring them to life in the creation of each dish (we tasted 450) on our menu.”
Brazil on the plate
The result of this exploration is an exceptional menu: “Memories of Brazil”, a journey of flavors and history that seeks for the diner to discover the origins of the South American country’s gastronomy through a 12-course menu that we had the opportunity to experience. To open our mouths, we started with a tasty combination of cassava, imperial caviar and smoked eel.
The next dish is the traditional Ocean style cheese bread and cheese bread. A feijoada, lobster, pork belly and chorizo, in which your senses will explore the flavors and aromas of one of the most traditional dishes of the Ibero-American country’s cuisine. The game of textures continues with a traditional dish of Brazilian cuisine, the mosqueca de peixe with ray, red shrimp and trout eggs. A version full of colors and delicious flavors.
The gastronomic tour continues with vamos a pescar. A tasty dish of albacore, dendé, shrimp and seaweed bread. This perfect harmony is joined by a rich tuna belly, coffee and passion fruit passion fruit passion fruit. A delicious fish of the day with Brazil nut and celery is excellent. Hans pushes fusion to the limit in every dish to cross borders, and his creativity reaches its peak with a Brazilian barbecue Portuguese version of Kobe, with mushrooms, marrow, peppers and smoked eggplant.
To close the circle, two majestic desserts: tonka, containing papaya and physalis; and chocolate macaé with pineapple and oabika. All accompanied by a careful selection of wines, mostly Portuguese, with a preference for limited and exclusive productions, which make up a unique opportunity.
Photos: Carles Allende