From award-winning restaurant to "nomadic cuisine" around Portugal: chef João Rodrigues changes his life to focus on a new traveling project. What does his future hold?
The news
João Rodrigues is a Portuguese chef who, after earning and maintaining the coveted MICHELIN award for a decade, chose to leave his job at the starred restaurant in Lisbon to pursue his personal projects. The first project? A "traveling restaurant" with no fixed location, as he plans to tour 12 regions in a year to ferry Portuguese cuisine from one area to another. The project is called Residence, and the first destination, Boticas, was just reached in the past few days.
Feitoria, the chef's previous restaurant
"From North to South, a different location will be chosen each month, making it a temporary residence. Seasonal ingredients, as well as the close relationship with small local producers, will be the basis for the creation of the menus." In the first city, João Rodrigues was hosted by two local farmers and ranchers, Pedro, and Ana, who are participating in the initiative by providing their house-restaurant Casa do Pedro and, of course, the raw materials they produce and grow, as well.
@Paolo Barata
The chef has organized two dinners with a tasting menu and wine pairing as well as a lunch on January 20th, 21st and 22nd, respectively. For the final date, the closing was done style with the banquet whose preparation was also attended by the well-known Vítor Adam, chef of Plano and Planto. The restaurant is in Lisbon, but the chef is a native of the region where João Rodrigues' adventure began. Local food items and recipes are the stars of the table, with total a cost of 80 euros for dinner and 45 for lunch with wines included.
People are eagerly awaiting the chef's next culinary tour, but future resolutions do not end with the wandering restaurant: In 2024, João Rodrigues will settle down in Portugal's capital, opening his own restaurant in the city.
Source: versa.iol.pt
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Cover photo: @Fabrice Demoulin
