The first ceremony exclusively awarding Portuguese stars will be held at the NAU Salgados Hotel in Albufeira on February 27.

Marked to be the gastronomic event of 2024 – the year the Michelin Guide turns 124 – the first exclusively Portuguese Michelin Gala will be held in the Algarve.

The event, which until this year was shared with Spain in an Iberian Gala, hints at more stars being awarded in Portugal, which currently has 37 distinguished restaurants.

Just over two months before the event, Michelin shared the first concrete details of the Gala: the ceremony, which will be held on February 27 at the NAU Salgados Palace & Congress Centre da Guia Hotel in Albufeira, will be hosted by actress and presenter Catarina Furtado.

With capacity for 1,600 people, the NAU Salgados auditorium will receive around 500 guests on the evening of the Gala, which also includes a dinner led by Chefs Dieter Koschina of Vila Joya and Rui Silvestre of Vistas, as well as a show-cooking moment.

The night’s main attractions will be live-streamed on the official Michelin Guide website and YouTube channel.

Although the Michelin Guide of Portugal won’t have a physical edition (on digital for now), the organisation confirmed that the Portuguese Gala will continue in the coming years and will take place in other parts of the country.

In contrast to the previous Iberian Gala, chefs and representatives of restaurants distinguished in all categories – Star, Bib Gourmand and Recommended – will have the opportunity to go on stage to receive their award.

Similar to what will happen in Spain, the event will also feature moments of entertainment yet to be revealed and distinguished international gastronomy personalities.

Michelin Gala will cost Turismo de Portugal €400,000

According to Expresso newspaper, Turismo de Portugal invested around €800,000 this year in promoting Portuguese gastronomy. Approximately half of this amount will fund the Michelin Gala, revealed Lídia Monteiro, of Turismo de Portugal, who added that the work to promote gastronomy began in 2019 but was interrupted by the pandemic.

“From the point of view of promoting Portugal as a whole, 2023 was a year of great strength. It was a very important year for the resumption of activity. Gastronomy appears in all studies as one of the strongest travel trends,” she added.

In 2023, five Portuguese restaurants entered the Michelin stars list: In Porto, Euskalduna Studio by Vasco Coelho Santos and Le Monument by Julien Montbabut, and in Lisbon Kabuki by Paulo Alves; Kanazawa by Paulo Morais, and Encanto by José Avillez – the latter, the first starred vegetarian restaurant in the Iberian Peninsula.

Portugal thus accumulates 90 recommended restaurants, 37 Bib Gourmands (a distinction given to more economical restaurants with “exceptional food”), 30 restaurants with one star and seven with two stars: in Lisbon Alma and Belcanto, the northern The Yeatman and Casa de Chá da Boa Nova, in the Algarve Ocean and Vila Joya and in Madeira Il Gallo d’Oro.