Portugal, the guest country at this 26th edition of San Sebastian Gastronomika - Euskadi Basque Country, bid farewell to the Kursaal Auditorium with a lecture by João Oliveira (Vista*, Portimao). It was a journey through his career, an example of how, with constant evolution, you find the perfect score in the end.

'We have three very important things: consistency, which makes us work every day; culture, which we try to communicate with the customer every day; and care for the product and the environment', he began to list as a declaration of intent, before explaining that this perfecting of the formula was based on 'inspiration, knowledge and the creative process'.

Born in the north of Portugal, "the inspiration comes from the Algarve, from this fusion between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The environment is undoubtedly a source of inspiration". In his case, it determines it so much that they no longer cook meat, "only fish, because we are by the sea".

This path has little to do with the one he took in 2015, when 'as chef I started working with products that I thought were the best and that everyone wanted. People were coming back, business was good, but I started to acquire the culture of the Algarve. I thought about making a menu based only on fish, and we started with that in 2017.

To be honest, it must be admitted that a health problem, a stomach ulcer, also played a role in this decision, which led him to change his diet and also his cuisine: 'We have removed meat and bread is only served in one pass, the dishes are gluten and lactose free and practically no sugar, the fats are all vegetable'.

Then, towards 2020, "we are committed to culture and knowledge. We are transforming inspiration into knowledge, getting involved in the culture of the Algarve, its fishermen, its techniques, something that changes every day. It is a constant search for improvement, because conditions change every day", he explained. The best example of this is the recipe with langoustine as the main ingredient, which has been on his menu for almost ten years, but for which he has changed the formula about twenty times.

"If you don't have inspiration and culture, you can't be creative. If you have a restaurant, you have to pass on your culture and knowledge by being creative and explaining how you got there,' he reflects.

Choices that define you

It's a process linked to the environment and to people, but also to certain decisions that are almost the result of chance: 'When the pandemic started, through my wife I met an organic farm that sent us some vegetables and flowers that we had very close to home and that I didn't know. We started working only with them. Since 2020, the dishes have had two ingredients: a vegetable and a fish protein, but with more emphasis on technique'.

Today, 'our cuisine is about flavours, textures and balance', while 'the creative process allows us to develop an identity'. Looking to the future, 'we will continue to learn. We have our own line and we know where we want to go. We will continue to dream'.