Feitoria

Pour ceux qui né le savent pas encore, la Fetoria est le restaurant gastronomique de l’hôtel Altis Belém. Et accessoirement, il est étoilé (1* au Michelin).
Étant donné les prix plutôt bas des restaurants au Portugal, on pourrait croire qu’on va faire ici une super affaire. Méfiez-​vous. C’est effectivement moins cher qu’un étoilé parisien mais ça reste quand même réservé à des bourses bien fournies. En moyenne, comptez 140 € par personne.
Dans l’assiette, le chef est bien à la hauteur de sa réputation — voire même un peu plus haut. Certains plats méritent vraiment 1* supplémentaire. Non seulement, c’est excellent mais c’est aussi innovant. La présentation est parfaite. Mention spéciale pour le turbot.
Côté service, c’est irréprochable sans devenir austère. Tous les serveurs de l’équipe viendront à votre table, en fonction des plats apportés. Ça change un peu du serveur attitré.
Malheureusement, même si la salle est orientée vers le Tage, la distance est bien trop grande pour avoir l’impression d’un dîner au bord de l’eau. C’est mon seul regret…

Work brought me to Lisbon for a couple of days. And as always before I head off anywhere I try and wrap at least a small finger around the landscape of cuisine in order to satisfy my desire for excellent food and new experiences. And being me, I had already made a table reservation for myself and my colleagues before we even left our home country border. Feitoria is one, out of only two, restaurants in Lisbon with a star in Guide Michelin. The establishment is from the point of view in decoration and ambiance absolutely flawless and breathes fine quality dining in every breath. Modern architecture and table decorations suitable either for colleagues looking for great food with casual conversations, friends celebrating an event of any kind or an intimate romantic dinner for two; it suits any occasion.
From the moment of arrival we were all taken good care of and started off with some nice cocktails of various sorts in our company. The name of mine has since slipped my mind, but it’s base was with gin, lemon along with a whole range of other ingredients that had my appetite only wishing for more. And on no account would I be disappointed of what where to come. I had already set my eyes and mind on the 5-​course menu to really experience the restaurant at it’s fullest. Surprisingly enough, the 5 course menu actually turned out into a beautiful 8-​course journey. First up was a chef apéritif, a warm green asparagus soup with a roasted parmesan crisp. Absolutely amazing and packed with flavor. Then came chef apéritif no.2, a goat’s cheese stuffed filo pastry roll with heirloom tomato salad and dried prosciutto. It was yum. After these two aperitifs then came the actual first course of my 5-​course menu, namely foie gras served two ways. The first way was a lightly fried panko-​crumb foie gras and the second was actually raw foie gras. They were served with different assortments of light dressing, herbs and even more goodies too tasty to remember. Second dish up next, the fish dish. This was a filet of sea bass, seared scallop, fresh small leaf salad served with a rich and succulent tomato sauce. The scallop was perfectly seared, shiny on the inside and great outside texture from the sear. Sea bass was flaky and moist with crispy skin. Those two wonderful pieces from the ocean with a rich tomato sauce that still didn’t overpower the sea-​flavors was perfectly balanced. Divine, to be honest. Seafood is followed by veal, and what a veal. Perfectly cooked. Accompanying the veal was a parsnip purée, creamed parsley, fried sweetbread and veal jus. It was wonderful. Then came the cheese platter with different cheeses I actually don’t remember where they came from or their exact flavor more than they were all excellent. The plate also had some blackberries and fig chutney. Before the final dessert we were served a fresh and cool mint sorbet as a palate cleanser. The dessert itself had so many components that included a chocolate dome with a baked bottom, a sorbet on chocolate crumble, a cubed mango ice-​cream topped with a dark chocolate circle and a perfect pink macaron with raspberry filling. Also on the plate were fresh raspberries with dried lime-​leaves and to top it off a small crème brûlée. Definitely one of the most well-​composed and highly skilled desserts I’ve ever seen. How it tasted? Divine. Just, simply, divine.
After this amazing meal we sat for a while longer, soaking up the atmosphere. When we finally left the restaurant late in the night we took a walk along the riverside with cool summer winds in our faces, utterly satisfied after a fantastic meal not to be lightly forgotten.

Distinção, requinte e muita qualidade são os adjetivos que melhor descrevem a Feitoria. E é também o que se exige de uma casa com uma estrela Michelin, ou pelo menos o que eu esperava encontrar e na verdade em nada me desiludiu! O menu de degustação, tem combinações improváveis, mas que resultam na perfeição. O atendimento e o serviço são também exemplares… Sem nenhuma falha! Claro que no final, o preço é também ajustado à qualidade… Por isso, e apesar de ter adorado, não devo voltar tão depressa (como muita pena minha)!

Eu não posso convidar ninguém, mas sei que mais dia, menos dia, vou voltar ao Feitoria (até rimei). É um restaurante com uma estrela Michelin, com uma cozinha portuguesa de fusão e que nos deixa a babar por mais e mais. O serviço exemplar não falha com um único detalhe. Como seria de esperar, um comum mortal pede o menu de degustação. Apesar de, à partida, torcer o nariz a alguns dos elementos do menu, a explosão de sabores e a surpresa foi soberba. Não é por acaso a estrela Michelin…

É verdade que até que tenho tido uma vida gastronómica interessante. Até por motivos profissionais, já provei sabores tipicamente portugueses que me mostraram como a nossa culinária é, sem qualquer dúvida, «a oitava maravilha do mundo» até pratos mais exóticos dos quais normalmente me arrependo de ter posto na boca. Contudo, infelizmente foram raras as vezes em que já me sentei na mesa de um restaurante premiado com uma estrela Michelin. Portanto, é natural que tenha altas expetativas quando sou convidado para jantar num espaço que já foi galardoado com esta distinção tão importante. E foi com gigantescas expetativas que entrei no Restaurante Feitoria.
Previsivelmente, foram todas correspondidas. Do rol de prazeres em forma de comida que pude degustar, aconselho o leitão com nectarinas e um pastel de nata muito especial, que combina os sabores de lima com canela. Atenção ao preço: como seria de esperar, os pratos são caros e é só por essa razão que não devo visitar o Feitoria nos próximos tempos… a não ser que um simpático Unilocaler me convide!