Portugal picks up four new Michelin stars

Portuguese celebrity chef Henrique Sá Pessoa and his restaurant Alma has won its second Michelin star at a gala award ceremony in Lisbon on Wednesday.

It brings the total number of eateries in Portugal with two Michelin stars.

The French top restaurant food guide also distinguished a number of new Portuguese eateries and chefs of merit.

For its international cuisine guide 2019, the birthplace of the Portuguese State, the medieval city of Guimarães won its first Michelin star for restaurant A Cozinha. The northern city of Braganza, which spanned a royal dynasty including the famous Queen Catherine of Braganza who brought tea to England, also won a star for the delicacies served up at G Pousada.

The Penha Longa hotel’s Midori restaurant won its first highly prized star which puts it on the national culinary map of Portugal.

Before the 10th Iberian peninsula gala awards ceremony held at the Carlos Lopes Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal had five two-star restaurants (“exceptional cuisine well worth going out of your way for) and 18 with one star (very fine dining, well worth stopping off for).

Spain, on the other hand, had 11 restaurants with a maximum 3-star classification of which two were new in 2018 (“A unique cuisine, justifying the journey in itself”), 25 with two stars (five additions for 2018) and 159 with one star. 

From Oeiras, Henrique Sá Pessoa is one of the most famous faces in Portugal on the cooking circuit having become a household name due to his best-selling cookery books, widespread TV commercials and string of restaurants. He began his career working at the famous Sheraton Park Lane in London.