Owned by the family that has produced Taylor’s Port since 1838, The Yeatman unsurprisingly bills itself as a wine hotel. That’s evident in some of the room design and in the Caudalie Vinotherapy Spa. Yet, it’s most clear in the two-star gastronomic Yeatman restaurant, where there are 1,300 references from a 27,000-bottle cellar.
But while wine is the key concept at The Yeatman, fine dining is no less important. To launch the Yeatman Restaurant in 2011, management coerced Chef Ricardo Costa away from Largo do Paço in Amarante, where he earned a Michelin star in 2009 and 2010. At The Yeatman, Costa’s creative ways continued. Soon after opening, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star; a second star followed in 2017.
No doubt, the accolades honor Chef Costa’s contemporary twists on traditional Portuguese flavors. Dinners come in the form of two tasting menus, one with six courses and the full-on Gastronomic Experience of ten plates full of distinct flavors. Selections from a recent menu include cuttlefish with fried yeast and smoked eel, and lobster with kimuchi (Japanese kimchi), sesame, and galangal root.
The room is colorful and airy, with sea-green walls, and blue and red chairs around the white-clothed tables. In summer, the views over the nearby Douro River are divine.
For more information, visit The Yeatman Restaurant website.
The Restaurant at the Yeatman
Rua do Choupelo (Santa Marinha)
Vila Nova de Gaia
Porto
Phone: +351 220 133 100
Daily from 19:30; last order at 21:30
Photos courtesy of The Yeatman Hotel