The name “Intemporal” refers to something that’s timeless—but also, they say, something that’s happening at the right time—and it’s a fitting one for esteemed Portuguese chef Miguel Laffan’s new fine dining venture in Paço de Arcos. He’s aiming to create a cuisine that transcends time and trends, and serving it in a waterfront dining room with a long history of its own.
Intemporal occupies a striking freestanding cube that’s covered in burnt-orange azulejos. It’s the result of an extensive renovation of the 20th-century Casa do Fiscal, a small building that housed the employees who collected the tax on fish caught in the municipality of Oeiras. It’s just a short drive from Lisbon, but it feels more connected to the sea than to the bustling capital city, thanks to an extra-wide window that stretches almost the entire length of the dining room.
It’s easy to lose yourself in the view of the boats bobbing in the shallows outside the restaurant, but it would be a shame to get too distracted from the presentations on the plate. Laffan, who previously worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain, France, and Brazil, and who earned the first star in Portugal’s Alentejo at L’AND Vineyards a decade ago, is making no secret of his desire to earn another star.
The tasting menu unfolds in about ten moments, grouped together under time-related headings: Prelúdio for the first snacks, Permanência for the bread course, Eternidade for the desserts. Within each category, the specifics change with the seasons but always have a rigor of technique, a delicacy of flavor, and more than a passing nod to Asian cuisine.
On the winter menu, that meant a shot of coconutty tom yam soup and a bao-like steamed bun filled with duck among the snacks, amberjack sashimi and seafood tempura as the starters, and Goan-style sorak curry, with Kashmiri red chilis, as one of the mains. But there’s also a firm commitment to Portuguese products, from the butter from Pico island the olive oil from Tras-os-Montes that are served with the bread, to the Monte Alentejano pork that rounds out the mains.
The wine list and pairings are the work of sommelier Luís Feiteirinha, whose resume includes Lisbon standouts likes JNcQUOI, Alma, Cura, and Kabuki. He and the rest of the servers combine friendliness with precision, and they make carrying every dish up from the ground-floor open kitchen to the first-floor dining room look easy.
For more information, visit the Intemporal website.
Intemporal
Rua Vista Alegre
Paço de Arcos
Phone: +351 968 432 288
Email: reservas@intemporalexperience.com
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday – 12:30 to 15:00 and 19:30 to 23:00