Seeing stars: West Town’s Porto receives a Michelin star
The saying goes, it takes a village.
During these challenging months, it’s never been truer. So, when we found out Porto received a Michelin star in May, we couldn’t have been more proud of the entire team behind it.
West Town’s Porto gives the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal the attention it has long deserved, taking guests on a journey that combines the freshest and finest ingredients available, with multiple wood-burning ovens and grills, and ancient preservation techniques; think smoking, curing, pickling and dry-aging.
Porto’s wine list focuses on a new generation of talented, ambitious and iconoclastic winemakers who are reinvigorating and reinventing the vintages across the mainland and island regions of Spain and Portugal, focused on small-production, must-try bottlings.
“At Porto, we want to share our love for the history, culture, food and, ultimately, people of Galicia and Portugal,” says Bonhomme’s founder and creative director, Daniel Alonso, who, having grown up between the Midwest and his parent’s hometowns in Galicia, has a personal, heartfelt connection to this part of the world & the purveyors who call it home.
For Alonso, research for Porto, which opened in December 2019, has been ongoing since childhood, instilling a passion for and relationship with the area few can claim.
During countless research trips, Alonso was accompanied by Bonhomme Group’s executive chef and fellow Spaniard, Marcos Campos and other members of the team. The group sat down with the fishmongers, farmers and winemakers who are at the heart of Porto’s menu on their travels to small villages along the coast.
This past difficult year, Marcos and the Porto team turned the Covid-related downtime into a positive, rethinking what they do and how they could do better. “It was a matter of refining what we do and pushing ourselves to be ready to come out of this situation stronger than before,” says Marcos. And, boy, did they ever.
While the commitment to using only the highest quality ingredients is still at the forefront of their inspiration, Marcos and Chef de Cuisine Erwin Mallet incorporated a less-is-more attitude to their cooking, striving to create perfectly executed dishes but in a simple way. Strengthening their commitment to using only wood-and charcoal-burning ovens and grills, a signature of Porto, was also part of the refinement process.
“For us, the fire pushes us to be better and find a way to make dishes in a more ingredient-focused style while respecting the flavors,” says Marcos.
For the sweet side of the menu, Executive Pastry Chef Shannah Primiano used this last year to further solidify the harmony between Porto’s sweet and savory dishes. “I approach working with Marcos and Erwin like we are a trio,” says Shannah. “My learning from them helps to have a consistency of the dining experience from the start of the meal to the finish.”
Sharing the inspirations behind Porto with guests is still an important aspect at the West Town restaurant, whether at the 24-seat chef’s counter in the main dining room or the counter in front of the Atrium’s wood-burning grill and wheel. “The open kitchens allow us to focus on telling the story about what Porto is, what we do differently and the little story behind every dish,” says Marcos. “Our goal and mission are to always teach our guests something new.”
