Michelin Portugal 2025: Marlene Vieira gets a rare star for a <em>female chef</em>

This is the second Michelin gala dedicated exclusively to Portugal and, to "decentralize" , the first one held in Porto - last year, it was in Albufeira. At Alfândega, stars rained down tonight. The highlight was the first star for Marlene Vieira, only the second woman to receive the distinction in almost a century of the Michelin Guide in Portugal.

In the restaurants with two stars, the novelty was that there were none, all the restaurants that had already been awarded last year remained.

Among the new restaurants with one star are, in addition to Marlene Vieira, in Lisbon, Arke (João Alves), Grenache (Philippe Gelfi), YŌSO (Habner Gomes); in Gaia, Vinha (Henrique Sá Pessoa and Jonathan Seiller); in Porto, Blind (Rita Magro and Vítor Matos); in Vila do Conde, Oculto (Hugo Rocha and Vitor Matos) and in Braga, Palatial (Rui Filipe).

José Avillez won a green star for sustainable restaurants.

Last year , when the Michelin Guide's first gala was held entirely dedicated to Portugal, after almost a century of sharing the honour with Spain, the big news was only a new 2* ( Antiqvvm, in Porto , by Vítor Matos) and four new 1* ( O Balcão (by Rodrigo Castelo, Santarém; Sala (João Sá, Lisbon) ; Desarma (Octávio Freitas, Funchal); 2Monkeys (Francisco Quintas and Vítor Matos, Lisbon). In 2024, some thought that the final result showed more eyes than stomach; and some pointed out that Portugal still does not have a 3*. In this regard, in an article tastefully entitled "Did Michelin feel like too little?", Gwendal Poullennec, director of the Michelin Guides, commented that the selection of restaurants in the first guide exclusively for Portugal was “excellent”. Regarding many Portuguese chefs considering that the results of the gala left a taste of disappointment, He said that there are “countries bigger than Portugal that don’t have a 3-star hotel”.

In 2024, Portugal would leave my gala entirely Portuguese with eight 2* restaurants and 31 with 1*.

This year the Recommended ones were divided into three groups. Those from Porto and the North, announced by Rui Paula, are twelve: Bistro by Vila Foz by Arnaldo Azevedo (Porto), Cibû, Hugo Portela (Leça da Palmeira), Culto do Bacalhau, Américo Peneda (Porto), Esperança Verde, Hugo Sousa (Braga), Flor de Lis by Vila Foz, Arnaldo Azevedo (Porto), Kaigi, Nuno Brás/Vasco Coelho (Porto), Le Babachris, Christian Rullan (Guimarães), Mito, Pedro Braga (Porto), O Filho da Mãe, Wesley Amorim (Braga), Real by Casa da Calçada, Emiliano Silva (Porto), Seixo by Vasco Coelho Santos (Tabuaço), Tokkotso, Paulo César Nogueira (Porto).

In the Central region and Lisbon, the inspectors' recommendations are ten and go to Ceia, Renato Bonfim (Lisbon), Conceito, Daniel Estriga (Cascais), Izakaya, Tiago and Isaac Jorge Penão (Cascais), Las Dos Manos, Kiko Martins (Lisbon), Memórias Santar, Luis Almeida (Santar), Omakase Ri, William Vargas (Lisbon), Oven, Hari Chapagain (Lisbon), Prosa by João Covas and Rui Paula (Aveiro), Safra, Sérgio Silva (Coimbra), Vibe by Mattia Stanchieri (Lisbon).

The third group covers the Alentejo, Algarve and Madeira – the absence of references in the Azores was very noticeable – there are 13 (five of them in Madeira) restaurants distinguished with the Recommended category: Ákua, Júlio Pereira and Liliana Abreu (Funchal), Atlântico, João Sousa (Porches), Audax, César Vieira (Funchal), Avista Ásia, Rui Pinto and Benoît Sinthon (Funchal), Cavalariça, Catalina Viveros and Bruno Caseiro (Évora), Gazebo, Filipe Janeiro Grácio Gomes (Funchal), Híbrido, João Narigueta (Évora), Legacy Winery, Emanuel Rodriguez (Estremoz), Mapa, David Jesus (Montemor-o-Novo), Oxalis, Gonçalo Bita Bota (Funchal), F, Luís Oliveira (Portimão), Sublime Comporta Beach Club, Diogo Gonzaga (Carvalhal), Vistas Monte Rei, André Simão (Vila Nova de Cacela).

The Best Sommelier award, sponsored by Sogrape and presented by the company's president, Fernando da Cunha Guedes, went to Marc Pinto, from Fifty Seconds (one star), in Lisbon. “We sommeliers are creatures of emotion and we try to convey them,” he said upon receiving the award.

The Michelin Room Award, which distinguishes the best room service, went to Nelson Marreiros, from Ocean (two Michelin stars), in Porches, Algarve, who said that “the most important thing is to mix the technical part with hospitality”.

The gala, which was supported by Turismo de Portugal, to the tune of approximately 400 thousand euros, ended with a dinner prepared by a luxury team made up of Michelin chefs and coordinated by Rui Paula (Casa de Chá da Boa Nova, Leça da Palmeira), Vítor Matos (Antiqvvum, Porto) and Ricardo Costa (The Yeatman, Vila Nova de Gaia).