Spring in northern Lake Garda is an adventure paradise. I’ve been several times and enjoyed the via ferratas: iron cables fixed to scrambling routes, which require fitness and sense of adventure but not technical mountaineering skills (safety equipment required). The views are amazing and varied, from gorges and ledges to grassy mountaintop finishes and, for the bold, huge vertical ladders – with castles, bastions and shrines along the route. It’s a great area, too, for hiring a bike or picking one of the many apartments that include them, to explore the paths and see the lakes and mountains by pedal power. Bored with all that? There’s also paddleboarding, windsurfing, swimming and river boat trips. All accompanied by brilliant food and gelato.David Thomas
Five New Michelin Stars Shine As Portugal Gets Its Own Guide
27.02.2024 - 22:19 / forbes.com
This has been a big night for Portugal’s gastronomes. After years of sharing the Michelin spotlight with Spain in one guide for the entire Iberian Peninsula, the country finally celebrated its chefs’ starry achievements with its first-ever dedicated Michelin guide and gala.
This is a win for the tourism board, of course, and for all the chefs and restaurateurs who saw their commitment rewarded. But it’s especially a win for anyone—Portuguese, resident foreigners and tourists—who appreciates eating well.
The ceremony was held at NAU Salgados Palace & Congress Center in Albufeira, which makes sense as the Algarve is a center of destination dining, despite being at the tail end of the country and of Europe. (The national newspaper Público reported that the regional tourism board kicked in a noteworthy share of the investment made by the national tourism organization in order to get a separate gala and guide.) Going into tonight’s event, the region had six one-star restaurants and two establishments with two stars.
Overall, Portugal accounted for about 20% of the listings in the latest edition of the shared Iberian guide. All 163 Portuguese restaurants in last year’s guide were invited to tonight’s event. Of those, seven held two stars last year, 29 had one star, 37 had a Bib Gourmand designation (signaling good value for money), and 90 others were listed as “recommended.” (These numbers reflect the closure of Eneko Lisboa, which held one star.)
Although the much anticipated third star did not materialize, the big news of the night was the elevation of a second restaurant to two-star status. Chef Vítor Matos’s Antiqvvm in Porto received the honor for its consistently high quality of cooking. It’s also a recognition of Matos’s other collaborations and tutelage; 2 Monkeys, his partnership with Francisco Quintas in Lisbon, received one star tonight, and the resident chef at his restaurant Blind, Rita Magro, won the Young Chef Award.
For 2024, the guide recommends 167 restaurants in total, meaning almost all of last year’s winners retained their ratings. (The ones that didn’t either closed or saw the departure of their head chef.) The country now holds 47 conventional stars, plus several green ones.
All seven of last year’s two-star restaurants maintained that status. There are Alma, by Henrique Sá Pessoa and Belcanto by José Avillez in Lisbon, Casa da Cha da Boa Nova by Rui Paula Cardoso and the Yeatman, by Ricardo Costa near Porto, Il Gallo d’Oro by Benoît Sinthon in Funchal, Ocean by Hans Neuner and Vila Joya by Dieter Koschina in the Algarve.
Four restaurants were awarded one regular star for the first time. These included 2 Monkeys by Vitor Matos and Francisco Quintas in Lisbon, Desarma by Octávio
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