The Ocean restaurant, at Vila Vita Parc, in Porches, won first place in the Restaurants category in the 14th edition of the Mesa Marcada awards.
After two years in a virtual version due to the pandemic, this edition marked the return to the face-to-face format.
In the category of chefs, first place went to Vasco Coelho Santos, from the Euskalduna restaurant, in Porto.
The podium was changed after six years of dominance by João Rodrigues and the Feitoria. This change is even more significant since it is the first time in the history of the event that the two main prizes go to restaurants or chefs outside Lisbon.
Still in the “10 Favorites of Mesa Marcada” it is worth mentioning the entry into the Top 10, for 7th place, of the restaurant Ó Balcão, by Rodrigo Castelo, in Santarém (up five positions), and the rise of four positions of both Alma, by Henrique Sá Pessoa, (now in 5th place) or The Yeatman, by Ricardo Costa (now in 6th place). Marlene Vieira also stands out in the Top 10, this time for chefs, as she enters the 7th position, rising six places.
As has been frequent, the results of the “10 Favorites of Mesa Marcada! (whose complete list includes 380 restaurants and 268 chefs) were selected based on the vote of a jury made up of journalists, bloggers, gastronomes, chefs and other professions linked to the gastronomic and catering environment, in a total, this year, of 235 voters, which constitutes one of the largest turnouts ever.
In the remaining awards, the Roastelier by Nescafé Pastry Chef 2022 Special Award went to Márcio Baltazar, from the Ocean Restaurant, in a ballot in which 32 judges participated, most of them composed of pastry professionals, but which also included clients, journalists and one or more another chef.
The 2022 S. Pellegrino/Acqua Panna Escanção Special Prize went to Filipe Wang, from Kabuki Lisboa, who gathered the highest number of nominations from the panel of 41 voters, made up largely of sommeliers, but which also included journalists, customers, producers and other professionals linked to wines and catering.
In turn, Belcanto, which has Luís Reis as head of the room, won the Special NX Store Room Service Award of the Year, after deliberation by a group of 24 voters, which included a number of restaurant room professionals, as well as owners, directors and gastronomes who frequent them.
Rui Sanches, from Plateform, also gathered the highest number of votes from another panel of the jury – which had 29 voters this year and was made up of journalists, businessmen and restaurant directors, as well as gastronomes – and was thus awarded the the Special Prize NX Hotelaria Entrepreneur of Restoration 2022.
The Miele Classic Restaurant of the Year Special Award, which aims to honor “usual places” (in this case establishments over 25 years old), was awarded to Ricardo Nogueira's Mugasa. This award, as well as the already revealed (in December) Special Cutipol Carreira Prize, awarded to Paulo Morais, and the Maria José Macedo Prize – Producer/Supplier of the Year, awarded to Salmarim by Jorge Raiado, relied on a very particular jury panel: as usual, only the Top 10 members of the last five years were invited to vote, as well as the winners of special prizes in that period.
25 voters participated: Alexandre Silva, André Tecla Cordeiro, António Bóia, António Galapito, Carlos Afonso, Carlos de Albuquerque Teixeira, Filipe Carvalho, Hans Neuner, Henrique Sá Pessoa, Joachim Koerper, Joaquim Saraaga Leal, João Oliveira, João Ricardo Alves, João Rodrigues, José Avillez, Lara Espírito Santo/George McLeod, Lucas Azevedo, Marlene Vieira, Miguel Castro e Silva, Pedro Lemos, Pedro Pena Bastos, Rodrigo Castelo, Vasco Coelho Santos, Vítor Sobral and Zé Pedro Rocha.
Finally, the Special Studioneves Sustainability Prize, held in partnership with this signature ceramics company and with the consultancy specializing in sustainability Grab a Doughnut. In this edition, which broke the enrollment record (42 entries), competitors were divided into two categories: Rural and Urban.
In the first, the winner was the Herdade do Esporão restaurant, in Reguengos de Monsaraz, (which had already won the first edition, in 2020) and in the second, the best classification was obtained by the Lisbon-based SEM, by Lara Espírito Santo and George McLeod.
In all, there were more than 300 guests who fraternized and attended this 14th edition of the Mesa Marcada Awards, in a historic night marked, among other novelties, by the changes in the top places on the list.
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