Saturday, June 9, 2012

Vila Joya

The Algarve region of Portugal is home to a lot of things: olives, oranges, lovely beaches, sun-burnt Brits, and... one of the top 50 restaurants in the world: Vila Joya.
Dining at this two Michelin-starred restaurant is al fresca.



We began the degustation menu enjoying a local Espumante sparkling wine.







Our maitre'd Paulo brought the first of many surprises--amuse bouches to cleanse the palate.



Beet macarone with smoked eel pate.


This was accompanied by a tapioca chip with calamari salad.



Then came jamon pirouettes.


This olive is not really an olive, and that's the point. Paulo told us to eat it like an oyster.


Then a beef tartare waffle cone,


followed by a peanut that's not a peanut.


At this point, we are quite amused by the bouches, but not yet sated. Fortunately, the kitchen disappoint, bringing inside-out pancetta baguettes.




And, for our eighth amuse bouche, a curry wafer topped with shrimp and zest of lime.



Taking a moment to soak in the view and fellow guests.
 

George was tasked with picking the wine from an iPad listing over 4,000 bottles.



The first course is grouper with cauliflower tartare, tempura cauliflower, pesto and curry foam accompanied by a 2009 Gloria Reynolds featuring Portuguese white grapes.


The main course was venison with cherries, jerusalem artichokes, chanterelles and a special roasted black walnut.



For those of us more interested in seafood, the chef specially prepared a lobster with chanterelles, spaghetti and curry foam.



The pastry chef, not to be outdone, offered another round of amuse bouches to cleanse the palate. The first was an orange olive oil cake with mango and papaya, and coconut custard.




The second was a simple preparation of fresh berries, local muesli, soda water whipped foam and toasted poppy seeds.



The real dessert finally arrived: chocolate-filled beignets atop mango salsa and tamarind molasses and meringue wafer and coffee gelato with white chocolate.





Dessert was followed by more sweets.









The chef....



After a great meal.













1 comment:

  1. LOVING the blog AMT! Dammit - seeing all these pictures has amused my bouche and all I have to sate my palate is honey-nut cornflakes! Maybe if I balance one precariously on a black cube and say 'a corn flake that is not a corn flake' I will feel better...

    You look very fabulous too my dear!

    We are in Europe (sort of) too - been in the UK since June 1 - back to Canada on June 20.

    toodleoo
    Julia V.

    ReplyDelete