Tourism Centro Portugal distinguishes 25 restaurants: Meet them

O Tourism Centro Portugal has today distinguished 25 restaurants in the region, in the first edition of the Sabores prizes to the Centre, an initiative aimed at recognizing cuisine, valuing local products and contributing to the tourist attractiveness of the territories.

The first edition of the awards took place in Castelo Branco, in the Centre for Contemporary Culture and celebrated the gastronomic diversity of the eight sub-regions of Centro de Portugal, distinguishing 25 restaurants and highlighting 31 more as recommended.

The 56 establishments will integrate the future Sabores Guide to the Centre, whose publication is scheduled for the beginning of 2027, coinciding with the reception of the Michelin Portugal Gala which takes place in March in Coimbra.

"With the Taste Awards to the Center, we want to give visibility to people who make all this possible. To the cooks who preserve old recipes, to the chefs who give them a new interpretation, to the producers who guarantee the quality of the ingredients and to the entrepreneurs who invest in their territories", said the president of the Regional Tourism Center Portugal.

Rui Ventura pointed out that when a restaurant is claimed as a reference, not only does it win this restaurant, but also the village, village or city where it is installed.

‘The producers, traders, housing and the entire local economy win. It is this multiplier effect that we want to stimulate, making gastronomy a reason to visit, stay longer and return to the Centre of Portugal", he said.

The event was promoted by Turismo Centro de Portugal, in partnership with the eight Intermunicipal Communities (CIM) and brought together chefs, restaurant entrepreneurs, producers and institutional representatives in Castelo Branco.

The evening also reserved a moment for two of the most emblematic products of the Centre of Portugal: cheeses and wines.

PROVERE has been distinguished Cheeses from Centro de Portugal and PROVERE Row of Wines from the Wine Regions of the Centre, two projects that bring together producers, entities and territories in a work of promotion, qualification and appreciation of these products.

The Sabores à Centro had the participation of eight ambassador chefs, one for each sub-region, who identified reference restaurants throughout the territory.

Later, an independent jury visited and evaluated the 56 pre-selected restaurants and this selection resulted in 25 award-winning restaurants and 31 recommended restaurants.

In the Aveiro region, the list of winners in the first edition of the Sabores à Centro distinguished the restaurants Cod & Afins, Mugasa and Salponente and are part of the recommended list, Fame, Imitation and Prosa.

At Beira Baixa, a Ti Augusta House, Rodão Doors and Provence they were distinguished and were recommended to Adega dos Apalaches, Cabra Preta, Jardins da Ocreza and Languages of Questioner.

In the region of Beiras and Serra da Estrela, the distinction fell on Cunha Leal, Taberna The Orange and Zé Nabeiro.

Also recommended were the Shelter of the Mountain, Casa da Eira, The Bottles, Soadro do Zêzere, Taverna da Matilde and Vallecula.

In Coimbra, the BBQ Rocha, The Burgoe to Safra and were recommended The Stage, The Shale, King of Piglets, Salgaboca and Zé Manel of Bones.

The restaurant Foco, Mesa 15 and Terruja received their distinction by the region of Leiria, which also included the recommended ones Bistro Campanas, Casa da Nora, Casainha Velha, João Gordo and Manjar do Marquês.

In the Middle Tagus were distinguished The Rite, Santa Isabel and Aunt Alice and recommended to Chef House Victor Felisberto, Flower of Sal and The Corral.

In the West, António Padeiro, O Fuso and Tasca do Joel received their distinction and Dom José and Taberna D’Adelia were recommended.

Finally, in the Viseu Dão Lafões region, the 3 Pipos, Mesa de Lemos, Sítio e o Sem Papas na Língua, being recommended the Adega Typical of Pena, Flora and Zé Pataco.

The President of Tourism Centro de Portugal stressed that gastronomy has an unusual ability to bring visitors closer to territories and communities.

“We all have in our memories a special meal we had on a trip. gastronomy has this power to create memories and to make us want to return. And the Centre of Portugal has extraordinary stories to tell at the table”, he said.