I was on my way to a plate design meeting at The Table when I heard the news. It was 9:30 am on June 7th. The flames were beginning to consume the JNcQUOI House hotel, which was due to open its doors in just over a week, and Filipe Carvalho paid little attention to the situation, thinking it was under control. “We went to the meeting and halfway there they told us that it was very serious,” he recalls. “Then when we left, we realized how serious it was.” Four months later, the former executive chef of Fifty Seconds, with a Michelin star at the top of the Vasco da Gama Tower, remains in the Amorim Luxury group, now taking on a different kitchen, alongside chef António Bóia: he is on JNcQUOI Avenida.
With the aim of further elevating the gastronomic experience of this space located on Avenida da Liberdade, and making a difference, chef Aveiro now presents a new collection of dishes, based on a concept of sharing, but without ever forgetting the identity and essence. of the Avenue, as it is called. “JNcQUOI Avenida is a restaurant that has always worked well, it is a successful project. Changing a successful project is difficult, right? Because everything you touch can be damaged, right? Therefore, was to bring a little more fun and a sharing concept“explained chef Filipe Carvalho to Observador. “We try to take this path of Refine the cuisine a little, make it more attractive, more fun, but without losing the essence of the avenue.“he added.
JNcQUOI. Three floors on Avenida da Liberdade (and Ladurée macarons)
What essence is this? “The focus on the customer,” responds the chef, explaining that one of the reasons that led him to accept the challenge of leading Avenida’s kitchen was to identify with the identity that the restaurant has at its core. democratize food so that “everyone can, if they want, come and try a white truffle at least once,” for example.
It is this quality and authenticity of the product that chef António Bóia values in his restaurants and with which, for Filipe Carvalho, it is a pleasure to work: it was the same one with whom he worked at Fifty Seconds for eight years.
“The tuna is the same, the caviar, the white and black truffle, the black acorn pork. The difference is that there I worked for 10 tables and I was able to guide the client to an experience that I wanted to convey through the tasting menu,” he says and adds that “Here we leave the client a little in their hands. and so you can discover our menu through different dishes.”
This is the letter we talked about sitting at the table. The dinosaur slime didn’t come to light (“If we took it off, we’d be dead”), but other options that invoke sharing appeared. To start, a fried egg sprinkled with white truffle shavings, a sin in the form of caviar, salmon, elvers and anchovies, smoked salmon with crème fraîche and German salad and some prawns and lobster with truffle mayonnaise in avocado. Starters include the porcini and potato omelette with prawn carpaccio and the tomato soup with sea bass and poached egg.
Before moving on to the main ones, it is important to understand: how do you deal with this temporary pause in fine dining? “In a positive way, I am showing that I am versatile,” said Filipe Carvalho. The former star chef announced his departure from Fifty Seconds at the end of last year, along with the announcement of the non-renewal of the contract of Martín Berasategui, distinguished with 12 Michelin stars, to take charge of the two restaurants located in the Casa JNcQUOI hotel, which was going to open its doors on June 19 but saw the opening postponed due to a fire, a week and a half before.
Martín Berasategui leaves the control of Fifty Seconds
Filipe Carvalho would lead The Fish, a restaurant with the same target as Avenida but focused on fish and seafood, and The Table, a haute cuisine restaurant, with only 11 seats at the counter and where the best seafood will arrive. the hotel. “You can’t compare it to anything,” says the chef, adding: “It’s Filipe Carvalho-type cuisine.”
Despite the change of plans, the chef maintains that now at JNcQUOI he will demonstrate what every cook must know how to do before reaching good eating: “make quality and volume with great quality.” “Now, if I can continue working in everything, like I used to work in fine dining, I feel happy because A chef cannot be satisfied with just having a Michelin star. You have to settle for doing it well and with quality.“, he defended.
“There’s nothing wrong with us being here now and doing something we’re proud and happy about. I wake up every day motivated to come to work, which is the most important thing. I feel happy where I am, I feel good. And when we have the hotel and gastronomy project I will feel better and more excited,” he guaranteed.
As for the hotel, with reconstruction work already underway, the chef guarantees that the project will continue and that, when he is finally in the kitchen of The Table, he will work to achieve “one, two or three stars, whatever remains.” “.
For now, those who have visited him for his work at Fifty Seconds will surely come to try Avenida’s menu and take a look at the new main dishes, which pay tribute to the Portuguese coast: grilled sea bass with asparagus and capers and Hake with fishermen and clams in green sauce. Finally, a scoop of vanilla ice cream spread with white truffle shavings, which decorated the egg from the beginning.
Fire extinguished in future luxury hotel on Avenida da Liberdade
Source: Observadora
