JOSÉ AVILLEZ: PORTUGAL’S NATIVE SON

One of Portugal’s most renowned chefs and restaurateurs, José Avillez opened Belcanto restaurant in 2012. The restaurant won a Michelin star that same year and earned a second in 2014. The following year, it made the prestigious The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Always on the prowl for novelty and diversity, Avillez, in 2018 teamed-up with Lebanese Chef Joe Barza to open Lisbon’s doors to an authentic Lebanese culinary experience, ZA’ATAR.

What roles do experience and context play in your culinary creations?

I grew up in Cascais, near the seashore, and was surrounded by pinewoods. The memory of being that close to the sea is so strong that it defines me. I remember eating Salicornia, a plant that grows on the beach, and today, I often use it in my recipes. Afterwards, I found myself falling in love with Lisbon, a magical city that was once the capital of the world and which remains a phenomenal inspiration for me. Here I have the chance to cook for people from all around the globe and I’ve tried to pay tribute to it by opening several restaurants that constitute meeting places and which I view as starting points from which to explore the city. In terms of cuisine, my greatest inspiration comes from traditional Portuguese cuisine, which is tremendously rich and varied. At Belcanto, we offer revisited Portuguese cuisine, combined with contemporary inspiration and made using top quality ingredients, prepared with exceptional accuracy.

How do you promote your cuisine?

One of the biggest misconceptions about Portuguese cuisine is that it is all about codfish. The fact is, in Portugal, we have a very rich and varied cuisine, as well as the world’s best fish and seafood. We combine traditional Portuguese cuisine with modern ingredients and techniques, finished with an innovative spirit. My mission is to promote Portuguese gastronomy through the several restaurants I have in Lisbon and Oporto that welcome thousands of foreign visitors each month. I also travel the world for about three months of the year, which affords me the opportunity to cook and exchange experiences, while promoting younger chefs. In addition, I invite international chefs to Portugal, so they can get to know our cuisine, while I continue trying to discover the relics and gems of Portuguese food. I believe our cuisine has everything it takes to be one of the best in the world and our gastronomy continues to garner higher levels of attention. We have customers who travel from New York to Lisbon just to have dinner at Belcanto. This would not have happened some years ago.

Do you agree that creating a simple dish can involve a complicated process, while, at other times, a complicated dish can be easily prepared?

Everything influences me, from my inner/outer world, memories, people I’ve met and journeys I’ve made to flavors, textures, movies and landscapes. For me, the creative process is very personal and complex - it’s a mental process that’s difficult to explain, and which usually reveals itself in new forms, often when I’m travelling or on vacation. Ideas start coming together in my mind. When I return to the kitchen and share these with my team, the new dish is usually 90 percent complete, allowing 10 percent for adjustments.

What or whom do you regard as your greatest influences and what are the biggest challenges when it comes to translating your ideas into reality?

My mentors are Maria de Lourdes Modesto, the most important Portuguese author on traditional Portuguese cuisine, and José Bento dos Santos, the most important Portuguese gastronome. I’ve also been heavily influenced by all of the great chefs I worked with and learned from, including Ferran Adrià, who played a life-changing role in my career, while teaching me how to think and broke down the mental barriers I faced, Alain Ducasse, Eric Fréchon and Antoine Westerman.