Portugal will be the guest country at this edition of San Sebastian Gastronomika Euskadi Basque Country. It will land on the stage of the Kursaal Palace with a large representation of its best chefs and will also participate in various activities of the congress with other relevant chefs, together with VisitPortugal, the brand responsible for the promotion, enhancement and sustainability of Portugal as a tourist destination. In recent years, Portugal has distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic and innovative places in the field of high quality gastronomy. Portuguese cuisine has evolved significantly from its beginnings to become a global reference model.

This year, seven Portuguese chefs are taking part in the presentations in the main auditorium of the Congress at the Kursaal in San Sebastian. José Avillez (Belcanto**, Lisbon), João Rodrigues (Canalha, Lisbon), Marlene Vieira (Restaurante Marlene, Lisbon), who will be on stage with her partner João Sá (Sála de João Sá*, Lisbon); Ana Moura (Lamelas, Porto Covo, Alentejo), João Oliveira (Vista*, Portimão, Algarve) and Rodrigo Castelo (Ó Balcão*, Santarém/Alentejo). In addition, two other Portuguese chefs will take part in one of the most important activities of the Congress, a dinner that will be held for the first time in a gastronomic association in the historic centre of San Sebastian, a place known for its strong sense of community, where members meet regularly to cook, share recipes and enjoy food. It will be held at the Gaztelubide Gastronomic Society, one of the most emblematic in the capital, San Sebastian. Founded in 1934, it is a living example of how food and society can come together to create a lasting legacy. Portuguese chefs Diogo Rocha (Mesa de Lemos*, Viseu, Centro de Portugal) and Noélia Jerónimo (Noelia e Jerónimo, Cabanas de Tavira) will share the kitchen with the society's chefs.

Inaugural dinner and VIP lounge

Portugal will also be present at the opening dinner of the Congress, to be held on Monday 7th at the Palacio de Miramar, with two of the chefs who will be travelling to San Sebastian, Marlene Vieira and Rodrigo Castelo. Their culinary creations will form part of the menu served to 350 guests. In addition, the gastronomy in the VIP room at San Sebastian Gastronomika 2024 will be Portuguese, with the presence of a Portuguese chef each day of the congress: João Rodrigues on Monday 7 October, Ana Moura on Tuesday 8 October and João Oliveira on Wednesday 9 October.

With a growing number of Michelin-starred restaurants, Portugal has established itself as a must-visit destination for food lovers, thanks to a generation of established chefs and a new generation of talented young chefs. The blend of tradition, creativity and sustainable practices continues to push Portuguese gastronomy to new horizons. With a rich and varied culinary heritage, Portugal has managed to fuse its roots with contemporary techniques and inventive reinterpretations of traditional dishes, resulting in international recognition. In recent decades, the country's haute cuisine has made a remarkable leap forward, thanks to a new generation of chefs who have elevated the cuisine to unprecedented levels.

The future of haute cuisine in Portugal is encouraging, with an increasing emphasis on sustainability and the use of local and seasonal ingredients. Portuguese chefs are more committed than ever to developing a gastronomy that is also aware of its impact on the environment.

Portugal joins the list of countries and cities that have hosted San Sebastian Gastronomika Euskadi Basque Country in the past, including France, Japan, New York, London, India, Italy, Brazil, Peru and Mexico.

José Avillez. Chef at Belcanto** (Lisbon)

Chef José Avillez (Belcanto**, Lisbon) is dedicated to promoting Portuguese gastronomy and helping to establish Portugal as a top gastronomic destination. Recognised as a connoisseur of Portuguese cuisine, he has been praised for his entrepreneurial spirit and relentless drive to push boundaries.

He has several restaurants in Portugal - in Lisbon, Porto and Cascais - as well as in Dubai and Macau. Each of these restaurants embodies his unique concept, while passionately communicating his love of cooking. In 2023, José Avillez, together with his wife Sofia Ulrich, opened Casa Nossa - The Lake Farm, an extraordinary estate located in the Alentejo, on the banks of the Alqueva River. This idyllic retreat offers comfort and total privacy against a backdrop of breathtaking views.

José Avillez has made a significant contribution to Portuguese and international gastronomic literature. He is also a well-known author, presenter and judge on television and radio programmes.

Rodrigo Castelo. Chef at Ó Balcão* (Santarém)

This chef's creative work is based on his fluid relationship with the producers and fishermen of his region. He studied for six years at the Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém (ESAS), where he learnt different techniques for preparing products (fermented, cured, smoked...)

With the support of his wife, Rodrigo decided to open a restaurant in his home town, and in 2013 his dream came true with the opening of Taberna Ó Balcão (Santarém), where he presents an evolving work based on the tradition of Portuguese cuisine and the appreciation of Ribatejo products. 

In recent years, his cuisine has been recognised nationally and internationally with several awards, such as a Michelin star and a Green Star.

In March 2022, Rodrigo Castelo will be appointed Ambassador of Gastronomy of Santarém, as a result of his continuous work in promoting the region, its products and producers.

João Rodrigues. Chef at Canalha (Lisbon)

João Rodrigues has spent the last eight years researching Portuguese producers and the identity of national gastronomy. For 13 years, he was in charge of the Michelin-starred Feitoria restaurant in the Altis Belém hotel, where he introduced the famous Matéria menu, with the presentation of raw products to the customer and a strong public-oriented cuisine. Under his leadership, Feitoria won the Mesa Awards for six consecutive years. In 2023 he carried out a gastronomic residency across the country, travelling through 12 regions for 12 months, bringing people to deepen and rediscover the territories and their culture, while raising awareness of local issues such as desertification, ageing, the risk of losing traditions, handicrafts, etc. 

In 2016, he founded the Matéria Project, a pioneering non-profit project open to the entire community that promotes and creates synergies between national producers with good agricultural and livestock production practices that respect nature and the environment, as fundamental elements of Portuguese culture. His latest project, the Canalha Restaurant, which will be inaugurated in Lisbon in November 2023, is a neighbourhood restaurant that democratises access to quality and affordable cuisine.

João is also working on his flagship project, the Monda restaurant, which will soon open in the West region of central Portugal. 

Marlene Vieira. Chef at Marlene (Lisbon)

With her roots in the north of Portugal, this chef has a great command of traditional cuisine and a talent for reinventing Portuguese food.

At the age of 12, she asked her parents to let her work during the summer holidays in a restaurant where her father supplied meat. He continued to do so until the age of 16, when he enrolled at the Hotel Management School in Santa Maria da Feira.
He lived in New York, where he worked for two years in a Portuguese restaurant (Alfama) in Manhattan. She returned to Portugal and worked in 5-star hotels and several restaurants. 

Vieira was a judge and teacher for two seasons of the Chefs Academy competition on Portuguese television.

She currently has three restaurants in Lisbon, all with different concepts: a food corner in the Time Out market, Zunzum Gastrobar and, most recently, Marlene, her gastronomic restaurant.

Ana Moura. Chef at Lamelas (Porto Covo, Alentejo)

She started working in jewellery at a very young age, then graduated in Marketing from the Instituto Superior de Gestão de Lisboa in 2007, but soon discovered that this was not what she was really passionate about, and the following year she enrolled at the Lisbon School of Hotel Management and Tourism, where cooking became her great passion.

She completed several stages at Joachim Koerper's Eleven, El Almacén, directed by Isidora Beotas, as well as a sommelier course. At the beginning of 2013 she began a one-year stage at Arzak. San Sebastián, followed by another year with Ander González at Astelena 1997.

At the beginning of 2015 she returned to Portugal to take charge of Cave 23 (Lisbon), where he worked for two years. In 2017 she took over Bacalhoaria Moderna, but the crisis caused by Covid-19 led the owners to close the restaurant.

In May 2021 Marlene opened Lamelas, in Porto Covo, in the Alentejo, where he offers a new Alentejo cuisine, with the products and flavours of the Alentejo, but without barriers, renewing the canons of traditional cuisine and always reflecting its history and where he has worked.

João Oliveira. Chef at Vista* (Portimão, Algarve)

Oliveira's cuisine is a tribute to the Algarve coast, with fish as the protagonist.

He grew up in a rural family in Paranhos, near Porto, against the backdrop of his parents' and grandparents' small bar. His early years were marked by fishing expeditions with his father, which sparked a deep fascination with the sea. Although he also pursued a career in professional football and worked as a referee, his true calling in the culinary arts soon overshadowed the world of sport.

Oliveira honed his skills at the Porto Culinary Academy and began his professional career at the renowned Casa da Calçada restaurant in Amarante, under the tutelage of chef Ricardo Costa. 

In 2014, he joined Dieter Koschina at Vila Joya**, where he immersed himself in the flavours of the Algarve. A year later, the Bela Vista Hotel & SPA in Portimão called him to head the kitchen at the Vista Restaurant. Inspired by his childhood and his deep connection to the sea, Oliveira has created a menu that focuses on lesser-known species of fish and local produce.

She is committed to sustainable fishing practices and works with the Universidade do Algarve and the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera to ensure the preservation of local marine ecosystems.

João Sá. SÁLA by João Sá (Lisbon)

Cooking has always been part of João Sá's life. At the age of 12 he was already organising gastronomic events at school, and at 14 his interest in everything that goes on in a kitchen led him to the Estoril School of Tourism and Hotel Management. It was an early entry into the demanding world of cooking, and the journey has been an intense one. In 2003, he worked at the trendy Lisbon restaurant Bica do Sapato under the direction of Fausto Airoli, which produced great culinary professionals, and in 2004 he spent two months at Viridiana, learning from Abraham García. It was there that he discovered the true Spanish cuisine.

He also gained experience in the catering sector, working for two years at the Sheraton Porto under the supervision of chef Jerónimo Ferreira, until he realised that his love lay in other kitchens. He worked with other chefs who left their mark on him - such as Lubomir Stanisic at 100 Maneiras, where he acquired a lot of technical knowledge, or Nuno Mendes at Viajante in London - until he made his solo debut as a chef at G-Spot in 2009. It was the most creative experience of his career, where he did not repeat a single dish for three years. Now, almost a decade later, he is back at the helm of SÁLA in Lisbon.

Noélia Jerónimo. Head chef at Noélia e Jerónimo (Cabanas de Tavira, Algarve)

Without Michelin stars, this Portuguese woman is considered one of the best chefs in the country. Her Noélia e Jerónimo is frequented by many of Portugal's best chefs.

At her restaurant in Cabanas de Tavira, 25 kilometres from the Spanish border in the Portuguese Algarve, you have to be lucky enough to get a table or book in advance. Practically all the great Portuguese chefs have passed through here, succumbing to the mastery of this Algarvian force, for many the true ambassador of Portuguese Mediterranean gastronomy.

Noélia Jerónimo is self-taught, she has no Michelin stars, she is a genuine and passionate cook, currently a teacher at the Time Out Academy and the visible face of the Portuguese Gastronomy and Wine Festival.  Her beginnings are linked to her marriage to the pastry chef's son and the acquisition of the pizzeria next door to the pastry shop. From the pizzas, she experimented and turned the restaurant into what it is today, an institution.

She received the Merit Award in the Gastronomy category from the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Europe/Africa.

Her restaurant, Noélia e Jerónimo, was awarded the Silver Fork of the Boa Cama Boa Mesa Guide in 2018. The secret, according to the chef herself, 'is in the simple things, in using seasonal products and fresh ingredients'.

Diogo Rocha. Chef at Mesa de Lemos* (Passos de Silgueiros, Viseu, Portugal)

Rocha, who studied at the Pastry and Cookery School in Coimbra and has a degree in Food Production and Catering from the Estoril School of Tourism and Hotel Management, is head chef at the only Michelin-starred restaurant in central Portugal.
At the age of 9, he started helping his father in a catering company. At 14, after leaving school, he trained at Vila Joya and worked with Vítor Sobral, who always encouraged him to do more. At Mesa de Lemos, he found the perfect environment to make the most of local products, many of which are grown at Quinta de Lemos, such as the wine and olive oil they also produce, and the Dão region itself.

Our daily goal is to use all the natural resources on our farm and to source ingredients from local and organic producers, depending on the season. Another ongoing goal is to reduce waste and optimise the use of renewable energy,' says Rocha.
 
His work has been recognised with several awards, including a Michelin star since 2019 and the French guide's Green Star in 2022.