NUMA - Portimão, Portugal

Hi Everyone,

So, for starters my name is Bruno Silva. I’m in year 3 of BA (Honours) Culinary Arts. I started my placement on the 5th of September in this Restaurant called NUMA. It is near the centre of Portimão, Portugal.

NUMA is a restaurant created and named after the owners Nuno and Manuela. It was their dream to open a restaurant. Numa has been open for 2 years and is going well.

Nuno is the executive chef, and he has dedicated himself to intense training in Cooking and Professional Pastry, learning the best confection techniques, choosing the best ingredients, and refining the palate. He worked in several renowned restaurants in the Algarve and the United Kingdom, where he improved the flavours, textures, and experience in a frenetic pace of restaurant cuisine, valuing the team that manage to share the daily challenges with him. He is also a certified trainer at IEFP in the area of Cuisine’s Chef. Chef Nuno is going to be my mentor while on placement.

I came to this placement as it is one of the best restaurants in Portimão.

I decided to come to Portugal because I'm from here, but I've never experienced actually living here. So, I took the opportunity to gain experience more about my culture and its cuisine.

At the beginning I was nervous because I never collaborated with the owners of an establishment, but Nuno and Manuela are very welcoming.

I was put in the pastry section of the restaurant, and I love it. The platings are beautiful and different and the meals are traditional Portuguese foods made differently. I've learned a lot just in the first week and I keep learning new techniques. I also do the cold starter plates and the amuse bouche.

This is one of the plates I did, it´s a cold starter, seasoned fish, oyster, cucumber, caramelized orange, cucumber gel, orange gel, Parma ham, and a nori crispy in a coral design

This is one of the Amuse Bouche I made, it usually changes all the time, this is seaweed, tomato gel, on a seared sardine with mash potato and squid ink on a toasted brioche slice, this is a sustainable dish because we use item from dishes that were used and create a new item for customers to enjoy while they wait for their meal.

One of the desserts we serve, this is a modified version of a traditional dessert. This is a white bean and almond mille foils with lemon curd and dill gel, decorated with powdered sugar.

 These are just some of what I did so far. I can't wait to see what is in store for me for these coming days!

by Bruno Silva