Dinner, but Make It a Mystery

An intimate tasting menu and a few things we were probably better off not knowing

Nestled on a street lined with art galleries and beautiful old buildings, is a tiny restaurant that does only 2 seating’s of about 14 people per night.

Which means that if you want to eat there, you need to plan ahead.

Or, in my case, be married to someone who plans ahead.

Emotivo Restaurante is an intimate, interactive dining experience led by Chef Sara Verde that features a regional Portuguese tasting menu and an open kitchen concept.

But this isn’t just dinner.

It’s also a mystery.

Once all 14 of us were seated, Chef Sara explained that we would have to guess which region of Portugal was being featured that evening, based on the food and clues around the room.

So basically, we had come for dinner and accidentally signed up for a culinary escape room.

We arrived early and had our choice of tables, so naturally we chose the one right next to the open kitchen.

We began with sourdough bread, fresh-pressed olive oil, some extremely briny olives, and orange butter.

Then came a goat cheese and fig salad with a tangy vinaigrette.

Everything, down to the plates, was beautifully curated. Look at these sardine plates! I wanted to stuff them in my bag.

The next course was simply called “cuttlefish.”

We thought we were eating cuttlefish. The actual animal. The flesh. (Not that we knew what a cuttlefish looked like when cooked)

But we were wrong.

We were not eating cuttlefish.

We were eating cuttlefish roe.

Cuttlefish roe is the inner egg mass or reproductive gland of the cuttlefish, prized as a rare and tender seafood delicacy in parts of Asia and Mediterranean Europe.

After we ate them the Chef told us what they were. She said she was so excited to serve them because of how rare they are and hard to procure. When her fish monger called her to let her know he had them that day she immediately said “yes please!” And that is how they ended up on our menu that night.

They were tasty; the texture of cooked shrimp and flavor of pan seared scallops.

And I am so incredibly grateful that I did not know what they were before I ate them.

Because we are adventurous eaters. We will try almost anything.

But sometimes things are better known in retrospect.

Next came a pea soup with tiny pieces of caramelized pork and a soft-cooked egg. Then a rich and delicious bean stew with shrimp.

Throughout the meal, it was fun watching Chef Sara cook and put the finishing touches on each dish. She talked with us throughout the evening and was so warm and welcoming that we soon felt like we were sitting in her living room, invited over for a small dinner party.

Where instead of a casserole, our hostess was serving cuttlefish eggs.

The final main course was a clam and pork dish that Shawn had actually tried in Portimão and loved. Our server, who was tasked with describing each dish to every nationality in the dining room, did not know the English word for pork, so she described it as “oink oink” with a big laugh, which may have been my favorite part of the night.

If we hadn't already figured out the region by then, this was the giveaway: we were in the Algarve.

Then came dessert.

Unfortunately, dessert was a bit of a letdown. The orange roll was just okay, and the crème brûlée made with lactose-free milk and carob was not great.

Chef Sara came by our table and basically admitted that this was probably not a dish she would be repeating.

We appreciated the candor. There is something very reassuring about a chef who can look you in the eye and say, in essence, “This was not my best work.”

At the end of the meal, Chef Sara came out and explained each dish in detail; why it was important to the region, the traditions behind it, and the personal twists she had added.

By then, we had not only solved the mystery of the region, but had also eaten our way through a fascinating little piece of Portugal.

It was such a fun concept. We loved the intimacy of the restaurant, the interaction with the chef, and the feeling that we were experiencing something much more personal than just going out to dinner.

And we left with a new appreciation for the Algarve, and the knowledge that if someone tells us we’re about to eat “cuttlefish,” we may now require a few more details.