<strong>THE</strong>�YEATMAN Oporto is the English name for Porto, the main city of the Douro wine region and one of the most visually enchanting towns in Europe. With its cluster of historic buildings and a unique location on the river, it has rightly been awarded Unesco World Heritage status. Th e best hotels have traditionally been outside the historic centre, along the grand boulevards of Boavista, and they tend to be effi cient, luxurious but antiseptic: not very enticing for the upmarket visitor. Now, however, there is an infi nitely more alluring alternative. Th e Yeatman is a brand new hotel on the steep slopes of Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto’s twin town across the Douro facing the mesmerising Oporto cityscape. All 82 guest rooms have large open-air terraces with this dramatic view as the hotel is cleverly terraced into the hillside and the public rooms and open-air pool look across the curving river towards the arched, double-decker Dom Luís bridge astride a narrow gorge. All the great port houses have their cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia and so the Yeatman fi ts in perfectly as it’s the brainchild of Adrian Bridge, dynamic CEO of the Fladgate Partnership, one of the most revered names in the region with Taylor’s Port, Fonseca and Croft in its stable. Originally a soldier and then an investment banker, Bridge married into a Port family and his wife Natasha is the head blender of the group. Wine is an essential part of the Yeatman’s unique appeal with a massive wine cellar of 20,000 bottles and the world’s most comprehensive collection of Portuguese table wines and Ports. Th irty-one-year-old Beatriz Machado is the hotel’s wine director with an impressive academic background in viticulture and œnology, and she is assisted by the restaurant sommelier, Elisabette Fernandes. Together they work closely with executive chef Ricardo Costa who creates divinely imaginative food that refl ects the best of modern Portugal. He is a real talent. Lunch or dinner in the bright and airy restaurant is a true gourmet event with complex dishes that are a delight to the eye and the palate. Th e menu may list scallops in burnt cream with sea PRIVATDINING Iberian summer Destination restaurants in Spain and Portugal are topping the list for travelling gourmets this summer, says Jennifer Sharp Thirty-Six urchins, anchovies and citrus; blue Atlantic lobster with a broth of oysters and accompanied by a savoury terrine of milk-fed veal with foie gras and pistachio bread; wild turbot with roast tomatoes, eel rice in red wine and a curry sauce with mussels; or doublecooked suckling pig from Bisaro with sweet potato, braised chicory and hazelnut sauce. Th ere are dishes for vegetarians and for children, exotic desserts, Portuguese cheeses with homemade jams and fruit breads, plus extravagant tasting menus to showcase the chef ’s repertoire. Clearly this is not everyday eating and the hotel provides many opportunities for casual meals, but Ricardo Costa’s cooking at its best is not to be missed. Th e Yeatman reinforces its œnological reputation with regular wine dinners which attract not only hotel guests but wine makers and afi cionados from afar. And if all this temptation gets the better of your waistline, there’s always the hotel’s Caudalie Spa (with therapies based on wine, of course) to help regain your silhouette. Rua do Choupelo, 4400-088 Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto, Portugal, +351 22 013 3100, www.theyeatman.com SHIS�RESTAURANT Downriver from Porto, on the north-west coast of Portugal where the great Douro disgorges into the sea, there are miles of sandy beaches and esplanades backed by the smart apartments and villas of Foz. Shis is the most fashionable restaurant for miles, occupying a large decked area on a platform facing the water, above the beach but below road level. Steps lead down to a large open-air terrace with pots of greenery, white furniture and canvas parasols. Th is leads into an equally large, L-shaped minimalist restaurant with fl oor-to-ceiling windows, white origami-style paper and wire light fi ttings, blond wood, steel and dove-grey furniture and a sushi bar with high chairs along one side. All the tables are full and buzzing with couples fl irting, families celebrating and top businessmen doing deals. You feel you’ve arrived to be sitting there, watching the tide roll in and the children surf or splash in the waves outside.
Thirty-Nine Daniel Humm tailors fresh lobster to suit individual diners
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