We don’t have a lot of hard and fast rules in our marriage, but we have many moderately set guidelines, and one of these is that if our feet aren’t nailed down there’s no reason to suffer through the worst heat, at least not without some reprieve. A few weeks back the temperatures were set to hit the mid to high 30s, maybe even touching the 40s, and stay there for a long stretch. Not at all related, the daughter of some very old and dear friends – a young woman in her 20s about whom we clearly remember talking to the parents about preparing to have their first baby(!) – was in Portugal for a few weeks on a deep-dive course in aspects of archaeology. She was in Vila do Conde and maybe we’d like to drop in for lunch and a friendly pair of faces? It sounded great. Then, Lisa says to me all sweet and innocently “did you know that temperatures in Vila do Conde this week are in the low 20s?”
And thus, very quickly, our lunch date turned into three days’ refuge from the sun.
We “got our car out of the garage” (we don’t own a car, as little as we need one it’s far cheaper just to rent one when we want) and made for the coast. Vila do Conde is situated on the coast at the mouth of a river. We’d never been there before but people we know had said they had enjoyed it. The vibe there is definitely more touristy than Braga, but for being an extended suburb of Porto (the light rail makes it out there, which surprised us) but still far quieter than Porto proper, thank the gods. Lisa arranged our lodging which, because we had a hankering for a pool and maybe some spa time, ended up being the lovely Lince Santa Clara. It was, oddly enough, the second converted home of a holy order that we’d stayed in here in Portugal, and the digs were impressive. Stone construction, vaulted ceilings, heavily ornamented… it’s a hoot, really, so long as you don’t dwell on how the original holy order accumulated the power and wealth for digs like this. (sigh…)
Most importantly, by the time we hit town we could kill the A/C in the car and roll down the windows, taking in the gorgeous breezes. Our first order of business was to find our visitor coming out of her accommodation – we had expected to be taking her and her roommate to lunch but the roomie was still asleep… ah, youth. We left the car parked and walked in a couple of different directions (heh) before getting ourselves pointed towards a nice row of restaurants including Europa, which was our target. Our friend liked the place and told us a just adorable story about how her friends all figured out that going in on a jug of sangria was a cheaper buzz than just ordering drinks on their own. We say again, “ah, youth.” (And before our friends blow gaskets, she told the story about what “they” do, she apparently isn’t much for drinking in public.) It was a nice time, and we caught up on what she had been studying, which turned out to be restoring and preserving archaeological artifacts. When I was in college it never would have occurred to me that this was a thing, so good on her.
After a nice afternoon playing catch up, we made our way to the hotel and got checked in. The plan for the day was just to check out the facility in general and then make for their restaurant, Occulto.
There is a fun story behind the restaurant’s name, which translates to “hidden”. The hotel is a fairly recent renovation (2024) and while doing some foundation work, they found an entire level that was not shown or referred to in any plan or document. Thus, a superbly beautiful vaulted space became a restaurant that has already earned a Michelin star. Don’t worry, if you forget this story when you’re there you will be reminded several times. They aren’t trying to be pedantic; everybody is just eager to share an admittedly cool story.
The menu is quite simple, offering only two tasting menus: Flora (8 moments, vegetarian) and Imersão (“Immersion”) (option of 9 or 12 moments) with an optional wine pairing, each moment is tied to local and seasonal products. “Moments”, by the way, seems to be Portuguese parlance for the courses of a tasting menu. It seemed an amusing affectation the first time we heard it, but it’s come up at several restaurants now so “moments” are in.
It’s tricky to describe our meal, other than outstanding.
The Imersão is based on fish and seafood, mostly sourced from the fishing community of Vila do Conde, and our menu was . . . crab, goose barnacles, chawanamushi, horse mackeral & mussels, codfish & green tomatoes, hake & zucchini, red prawn & sea urchin, monkfish & cauliflower, and “pao de lo” with nectarines. The first three moments and the final mignardises and coffee, are served in a comfortable seating area facing the kitchen, with the chef explaining the source and inspiration for each. Once in the intimate dining room a cart with slow-fermented bread from a local bakery and butter from Marinhas arrive to whet your appetite. We both agree that the second moment of goose barnacles with smoked green asparagus was one of the best things we’ve ever put in our mouth. (Lisa still remembers it fondly.) While we didn’t love every course, we enjoyed the several hours we spent wending our way through the local seafood.
