Portugal already has a total of 31 restaurants with one Michelin star (“great cuisine, worth stopping by”) and seven with two stars (“excellent cuisine, worth the detour”). The country has never had the maximum rating (three stars, “a unique cuisine, justifies the trip”).

On Tuesday night, 500 guests are expected in Albufeira, in an event sponsored by Turismo de Portugal.

In this year's edition, an expected change is the loss of the Michelin star of the restaurant Eneko Lisboa (chefs Eneko Atxa and Lucas Fernandes), which closed its doors at the end of 2023.

In recent months, there have been other changes in some award-winning kitchens: Paulo Alves left Kabuki Lisboa, a Japanese cuisine restaurant that won the first star in the 2023 edition, being replaced by the previous sous-chef, Sebastião Coutinho.

Spaniard Martín Berasategui, the chef with the most Michelin stars (12) in the Iberian Peninsula, left Fifty Seconds by Martín Berasategui (one star, Lisbon), as did executive chef Filipe Carvalho, who will head a restaurant in the JNcQuoi group.

Taking over as head of the restaurant's kitchen at the top of the Vasco da Gama Tower will be Rui Silvestre, who leaves Vistas (one star, Vila Nova de Cacela).

The gala held in Toledo in November 2022, to present the Michelin Guide Spain and Portugal 2023, was the last in which winners from both countries were announced on the same occasion.

The publication's international director, Gwendal Poullennec, then justified to Lusa the decision to separate the two countries: Portuguese gastronomy is evolving quickly and the Michelin Guide wants to put Portugal on the world culinary map.

“Our inspectors have been monitoring the evolution of the culinary landscape for years. We believe in the potential of the current Portuguese culinary scene, but we also definitely believe that more will happen”.

Dinner will be prepared by seven “Algarve” chefs, coordinated by Dieter Koschina (Vila Joya, Albufeira, two stars) and João Oliveira (Vista, Portimão, one star) – who also cook -, as well as Hans Neuer (Ocean, two stars, Alporchinhos), José Lopes (Bon Bom, one star, Carvoeiro), Libório Buonocore (Gusto by Heinz Beck, one star, Almancil), Louis Anjos (Al Sud, one star, Lagos) and Luís Brito (A Ver Tavira, a star, Tavira).


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