Algarve Chefs Week: From 26 April to 3 May do not miss this luxury culinary week in the Algarve.

Ten Chefs, Ten Restaurants, Ten Hotels, 1 Price

The annual Algarve Chefs Week culinary festival will return for a mouth-watering fifth edition from 26 April – 3 May 2015. 

Dubbed “Algarve Chefs Week 5.0”, this year’s event brings together 10 top Chefs from the Algarve’s finest hotels to create one-off celebratory menus inspired by five of the region’s most characteristic products: Flor de Sal, dried figs, carob, fava beans and oranges.

The week-long gastronomic event sees each of the 10 participating chefs create their own special menus, pairing unique flavours with regional wines in a celebration of the Algarve’s most characteristic products. 

Following the official launch of Algarve Chefs Week at the Mercado de Loulé on 25 April, this year’s special menus will be available for dinner in the restaurants of the participating hotels from 26 April – 3 May. Prices start from €30 per person excluding drinks, and once again €1 from each meal will be donated to the homeless charity CASA.

For the first time, this year’s Algarve Chefs Week will be preceded by a series of gastronomic workshops, hosted by the 10 participating chefs. From 3pm on the afternoons of 4, 11 and 18 April, visitors to the Mercado de Loulé can learn how to make a variety of dishes based on the best Algarvean ingredients and flavours. Algarve Chefs Week 5.0 will also be marked by the publication of a special cookbook including some of the best dishes created for the event over the past five years.

Algarve Chefs Week 5.0 will feature:

-Chef Andrew McGuie – Restaurante Louro, Conrad Algarve

-Chef Bruno Rocha – Restaurante EMO, Hotel Tivoli Victoria

-Chef Jan Stechemesser – Restaurante À Terra, Praia Verde Boutique Hotel

-Chef José Leitão – Restaurante Moonlight, Nau Salgados Palace

-Chef Luis Mourão – Restaurante Alquimia, Hotel Epic Sana Algarve

-Chef Miguel Lourenço – The Olive Tree, Hotel Vale d’Oliveiras

-Chef Miguel Teixeira – Restaurante Koi, Vidamar Resort Algarve

-Chef Osvalde Silva – Restaurante O Grill, Pine Cliffs Residence, a Luxury Collection Resort

-Chef Ricardo Ferreira – Restaurante Pepper’s, Hotel Tivoli Marina Vilamoura

-Chef Vitor Monteiro – Restaurante L14, Nau Salgados Dunas Suites

Gastronomy Workshops – Mercado de Loulé (Loulé’s Market):

- April 4, Saturday:

3:00 PM (José Leitão): Starters

4:00 PM (Vitor Monteiro): Main Course

5:00 PM (Osvalde Silva): Dessert

- April 11, Saturday:

3:00 PM (Miguel Lourenço): Starters

4:00 PM (Luis Mourão): Main Course

5:00 PM (Bruno Rocha): Dessert

- April 18, Saturday:

3:00 PM (Andrew Mcggie): Starters

3:45 PM (Ricardo Ferreira): Fish

4:30 PM (Miguel Teixeira): Meat

5:15 PM (Jan Stechemesser): Dessert

Find more information at:
-  http://www.algarvechefsweek.com
-  https://www.facebook.com/AlgarveChefsWeek
-  The Cuisine of the Algarve
-  The Algarve
-  Mountain and Ocean Flavours of the Algarve
-  Algarve Regional Cooking 

Source: Algarve Chefs Week

Taste Portugal | London 2014/15

Taste Portugal is delighted to be bringing some of the best gourmet delights, along with esteemed Michelin-starred chefs and a range of special culinary and cultural events to London and the surrounding area, from September 2014 to March 2015, as part of an unmissable epicurean extravaganza.

London, as well as being the world’s most visited city, is officially culinary capital of the world, with a surge in the number of its chefs being awarded their first Michelin star. The city was therefore the natural choice for Taste Portugal - a project organised and presented by the Portuguese Board of Tourism (Turismo de Portugal) - to take place, and we are absolutely delighted to be working with some of the capital’s hottest-ticket, covetable venues. Star chefs – including Luís Baena, José Avillez, Matteo Ferrantino, Dieter Koschina, Ricardo Costa and others – will work together with our executive sommelier Arnaud Vallet, and his colleagues, to offer tasting events and dinners to die for. The secrets of age-old traditions will be combined with contemporary culinary know-how to throw the spotlight on to this exquisite gem of a cuisine.

Please click here for the programme of Taste Portugal | London 2014/15

Download here the "Desire Magazine.

For more information please visit:
- http://www.tasteportugal-london.com
- https://www.facebook.com/tasteportugal-london
- https://twitter.com/TastePTLondon
- https://www.visitportugal.com/en/content/taste-portugal-london-201415

Vila Joya Restaurant in the Algarve is one of the "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" for 2014

In the The World's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2014, No.22 Climbing 15 places is the Portuguese restaurant Vila Joya! Congratulations :)

The restaurant at this luxury spa and beach resort on the Algarve truly is a ‘house of joy’ thanks to the culinary talents of executive chef Dieter Koschina. 

Originally from Austria, he honed his skills in leading establishments in Vienna and Germany before settling in his adopted country of Portugal more than two decades ago. These countries’ contrasting food cultures continue to inspire Koschina with fabulous Portuguese produce combined with northern European cooking techniques to create truly original and delicious dishes.

Overlooking the rugged Atlantic coastline, the dining room plays host to artfully arranged plates of guinea fowl stuffed with black truffles and artichokes, and roasted goose liver with tamarind and salted caramel, but it’s the chef’s skill with local seafood that is most impressive. Stand-out dishes include ‘cataplana’ – a modern take on a traditional Portuguese stew with pork, cockles and lobster – and confit ‘bacalhau’ (salt cod) with beetroot coulis and yoghurt.

The only restaurant in Portugal to feature among The World’s 50 Best list, Vila Joya has also become a destination for international chefs, who attend its annualInternational Gourmet Festival. Top names, including Joan Roca, Björn Frantzén and Nuno Mendes, joined Koschina at last year’s event.

Source: The worlds 50 best.com