Cover Portuguese celebrity chef Henrique Sá Pessoa opened Chiado at Sands Cotai (Photo: courtesy of Chiado)
Portuguese celebrity chef Henrique Sá Pessoa opened Chiado at Sands Cotai (Photo: courtesy of Chiado)
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Sands Cotai’s contemporary Portuguese restaurant showcases the freshest seafood
This winter, Chiado is embarking a new tasting journey, led by Portuguese celebrity chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, as the Coast to Coast degustation menu highlights the best of Portugal’s seafood and the country’s vibrant culinary heritage.
Born in 1976 in Lisboa, Sá Pessoa is a celebrity chef in Portugal, with bestselling cookbooks and multiple television cooking shows. As his signature restaurant Alma was earning its second Michelin star in 2018, he opened Chiado at Sands Cotai, further refining his contemporary take on Portuguese cooking.
Chiado followed in Alma’s illustrious footsteps, as Sá Pessoa discovered the joy of sharing his gastronomic journey through Portugal’s exciting ingredients and his culinary techniques mastered in international kitchens and on his extensive travels. At Chiado, he steers diners towards a deeper understanding of Portuguese cuisine, focusing on freshness throughout the menu.
The private dining room (Photo: courtesy of Chiado)
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He infuses energy into his Coast to Coast menu by incorporating Chinese, Japanese and even Thai influences. “It is not fusion cuisine. Asian ingredients add a sense of familiarity to the guests, but the soul of my cuisine is Portuguese,” he says. The ocean-themed menu covers six courses, from appetisers to desserts, each highlighting an ingredient from the sea.
It begins with a pair of amuse bouches: grilled octopus with pickled beetroot, katsuobushi and squid ink mayonnaise is rich in umami; and Mediterranean red prawn on tomato water is accented with caviar, makrut lime and lemongrass oil.
Hake with razor clams, grilled mushrooms and fricassée sauce is one of the menu’s highlights—Sá Pessoa’s favourite fish is paired with tender razor clams and a fricassée sauce infused with fish stock and egg yolks. The dish is elevated further with a touch of wasabi, king oyster mushrooms and cauliflower chips.
A pre-dessert pairs honeydew melon with a sweet dashi and sea fennel, and is followed by the signature Sea Flavours dessert with zesty yuzu and light seaweed to refresh the palate.
Chiado’s Coast to Coast menu changes two to three times a year, as the chef continues to highlight signature Portuguese flavours with new ideas and executions.
