“In Portugal, to our joy, we are also pleased to present a second Michelin star to the ‘Casa de Chá da Boa Nova’restaurant , in Leça da Palmeira, as it has captivated the inspectors with its wild singularity [a building by Portuguese architect Siza Vieira], on the rocks of Praia da Boa Nova, as by the intensity of the proposal of the Portuguese chef Rui Paula”, reads the statement released during the presentation ceremony of next year’s edition of the Iberian Michelin Guide.


Chef Rui Paula, who now reaches the second star, “plays with memory, the latest techniques and local cuisine to transfer the authentic flavour of the Atlantic to his dishes”, the inspectors of the Iberian guide said.


In addition, the “Epur” (Lisbon, chef Vincent Farges), “Fifty Seconds by Martín Berasategui” (Lisbon, chef Filipe Carvalho), “Mesa de Lemos” (Viseu, chef Diogo Rocha) and “Vistas” (Vila Nova de Cacela, chef Rui Silvestre) restaurants are the novelties in the first category (‘high-level cuisine, pays to stop’) of the Iberian Michelin Guide.


On the other hand, three Portuguese restaurants lose their star in 2020: “L’And Vineyards” (Montemor-o-Novo, chef José Miguel Tapadejo, after Miguel Laffan left), Willie’s (Vilamoura, chef Willie Wurguer) and “Henrique Leis” (Almancil, chef Henrique Leis) - who in July was the first chef in Portugal to announce that he wanted to give up the star he had 19 years ago.


In total, Portugal has increased the number of two-star restaurants to seven and maintains 20 establishments with one star.
Next year, there are six new Portuguese restaurants in the ‘Bib Gourmand’ category (good value for money): “Casa Chef Victor Felisberto” (Abrantes), “Solar do Bacalhau” (Coimbra), “La Babachris” (Guimarães), “Saraiva’s” (Lisbon), “In Diferente” (Porto) and “Ó Balcão” (Santarém).