Five new Michelin stars for Portugal and one newcomer in Algarve
Portugal has five new Michelin stars. Four Portuguese restaurants – including Vistas in the Algarve – were awarded their first star ever at the Michelin gala event that was held yesterday in Seville, Spain, while Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in the north of Portugal joined the country’s two-star elite.
The not-so-good news is that Portugal still does not have a three-star restaurant, and three restaurants – two of them in the Algarve –actually lost a star.
But first, the good news: chef Rui Palma’s Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira received an extra star this year and now boasts two, alongside José Avillez’s Belcanto (Lisbon), Benoît Sinthon’s Il Gallo D’Oro (Funchal), Dieter Koschina’s Vila Joya (Algarve), Hans Neuner’s Ocean (Algarve) and Ricardo Costa’s The Yeatman (Vila Nova de Gaia), which all retained their two stars.