TWO well-known chefs from Portugal have opened a new
restaurant in Macau. Located at Hotel Royal, the establishment is named
after the famous Portuguese musical genre. According to chef Marco
Gomes, “Fado Restaurant” promises to bring “an author’s cuisine rooted
in traditional gastronomy. It’s a delicate cuisine that never forgets
the original flavors and tastes.”
Marco Gomes runs a restaurant in
Oporto, called Foz Velha, that recently celebrated its tenth
anniversary. He set up a center for cooking classes and wine courses.
Luís Américo runs three restaurants in the Oporto area. He also owns a
consultancy company that advises hotels and restaurants.
The two
Portuguese chefs took an interest in Macau during a visit three years
ago. Their food presentation was included in a Food Festival at the
Military Club, and was received with enthusiasm. “During the festival,
the Hotel Royal owners went there several times and rather liked our
food presentation. Four years ago the hotel had a Portuguese restaurant
called Vasco da Gama but it was closed. They were looking for a
different formula than the one that existed in Macau,” Luís Américo
recalls to the Times. This “new formula” set up by the Portuguese chefs
after a study of the local market, tries to avoid the counter effects of
the “cuisine fusion that ended up by confounding Macanese and
Portuguese cuisines.” They thought it made sense to bet on Portuguese
cuisine in a fine dining environment, capable of reaching other
audiences.
Before “Fado’s” opening in mid-May (currently only open
for dinner), the chef’s had testing sessions over several weeks. Luís
Américo says “it was very interesting, because people weren’t expecting
to see Portuguese gastronomy presented in this way. There’s a lot of
enthusiasm, people love the flavors and find it very agreeable.” The
dining experience starts with traditional snacks, like rissoles, salt
cod fritters, cheeses and sausages, that can be tasted in the communal
tables, before the clients are seated. Gomes described the menu to
include “several moments and presentations through the dinner,” and some
plates are cooked in-front of the client, namely ‘Ameijoas à Bolhão
Pato’ [clams] and ‘Bacalhau à Braz’ [cod baked with eggs and fried
potatoes]. “The Asian market loves them and they are very simple to
cook. We also want to demystify the work around certain recipes.”
Concerning
deserts, Luís Américo says that the highlight are the typical
Portuguese sweets “presented in a sophisticated way and other candies
that are typical but quite unknown here like ‘Castanhas de Ovos de
Viseu’ and ‘Areias de Cascais’.” A ‘Pastel de Nata’ [egg tart] is
offered for costumers to take home and eventually “make the experience
last until the following day.” The average price of a meal is MOP400 per
person, but an executive menu, with several choices, will be available
for lunch, is priced at MOP140.
The chefs do not plan to stay
permanently in Macau, but their Macau partners intend to expand the Fado
model to other cities such as Hong Kong and Shanghai. “Probably in the
future we will spend part of our time here and part in Portugal. The
opportunities here are completely different from those in Europe,” says
Luís Américo, who complained that “the Portuguese government’s policies
make it very hard to run a fine dining restaurant since taxes reached
twenty three percent and there’s been a drop in consumption.”
(
in MDT)
