Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/19027
PORTUGAL The Cutting Edge N story and photos by Fred Minnick Chef Hans Neuner feels his place is in the kitchen. The Vila Vita Parc is the highest-rated resort in Portugal. estled along Portugal’s rocky Algarve coastline, the elegant Vila Vita Parc resort echoes luxury. The German-owned hotel, opened in 1992 as the second property in the Vila Vita hotels portfolio, has received wide acclaim from the European press and public alike. Its claim to wider international fame may not be realized for another decade, but the resort’s signature Michelin one-star restaurant, Ocean, will certainly help. One of seven dining venues on the property (not counting the resort’s fi ve bars and its eat-in wine cellar), Ocean is run by one of Europe’s brightest young chefs, Austrian-born Hans Neuner, 33, who cre- ates modern interpretations of haute cuisine with Portuguese ingredients. For a mostly German and English clientele that frequents this popular summer vacation destination, Neuner’s specialties include Périgord goose liver in three textures with passion fruit and coffee; a turbot roll with pars- ley cream, nut-butter hollandaise sauce and porcini; entrecôte of Hereford dry-aged beef with olives, a tomato and onion condiment and basil foam; and a medium-roasted shoulder of Joselito pork in a light garlic jus with bean tart and beech mushrooms. “I am at the best place for fresh ingredients,” Neuner says. “I can get whatever I want, from wherever I want. There is no limit for the pursuit of being the best.” Neuner, who speaks several languages (including English, of course), stocks salt from 20 countries and olive oil from eight, and he will not purchase bulk net-fi shed seafood. “The fi sh here is caught by a single fi sherman four hours before it is served,” he tells THE TASTING PANEL. “I go to the beach and buy my fi sh every day.” Neuner’s English, charm, youth and delightful fare make him a viable candidate to be the next European to open an American concept. But he’s not looking to move on, and he certainly does not like the celebrity status that many chefs attain. He cringes at the idea of his likeness being used to sell canned goods, and he’s turned down European cooking show offers. For Neuner, one thing is a given: “My place will always be in the kitchen.” In the Cellar Vila Vita Parc’s Chef Sommelier, Arturo Rodrigues, is widely con- sidered the best sommelier in Portugal. Here, he contemplates one of the selections from the hotel’s 25,000-bottle cellar, one of the largest private collections in the country. 74 / the tasting panel / november 2010 PORTUGAL’S VILA VITA PARC HAS A STAR IN HANS NEUNER