Martinho Moniz is a chef specialising in Portuguese, contemporary Mediterranean and French cuisine. He has worked in many top restaurants in Lisbon and the north of Portugal and participated successfully in various international culinary competitions. In 2010, he opened the first traditional Portuguese restaurant in Hong Kong “Casa Lisboa”. The following year he became head chef at the first fine dining Portuguese restaurant in Asia “Guincho a Galera” at Hotel Lisboa. Currently Martinho is looking for new opportunities to deliver high quality service and food in Macau.
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
Enjoying a hot sunny day on Nam Van lake in a canoe.
If you could invite any four people (living or dead)
to a dinner party, who would they be?
D. Joao II De Portugal, Antonio Oliveira Salazar, D. Mario Soares
and Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
What is your favourite food?
I was born in “Berço do Sítio of Nazaré”, as a man of the sea, blessed by the experiences of the countryside. I love a good fish as meat,
so Bacalhau a lagareiro with olive oil from Moura.
What book are your reading now?
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier aka Peter Bieri.
And what’s playing on your headphones?
Franz Ferdinand (very loud!)
If your house was on fire and your family was safe, what would be the three first things you would save?
My family inheritance, especially a wooden clock, my Bible,
my recipe book of many years and my paintings.
What virtue do you most admire in others?
Honesty – it makes everything easier and the world happier.
If you could travel to any place on earth, where would you go?
The restaurant of Paul Bocuse,
L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, France.
Do you have a favourite number?
11 – my birthday is November 11.
What is one word you would use to describe Macau?
Golden.