Alison Krupnick
Fabio Fidalgo dreams of inviting his grandmother to his restaurant to sample his cozido, the classic Portuguese stew inspired by the ones he grew up eating at her table.The 41-year-old self-taught chef and restauranteur, who cites British chef Jamie Oliver as his other seminal influence, mixes Portuguese home cooking with London innovation and hospitality at his restaurant, Poço dos Sabores. Look no further than his cauliflower puree, which has been described as “eating a cloud, or angel wings,” and the cozy wooden and stone dining environment, and you’ll see what he and his team are trying to achieve.
Four years ago, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, after weeks of contemplation, Fabio and his partner Sonia Melo took a leap of faith and decided to rent the vacant restaurant in their home village of Usseira. When they finally mustered up the courage to contact the landlord, they were told the place had been rented a few hours prior to their call. But destiny has a way of making her presence known.That rental fell through, and in November 2021, Poço dos Sabores, nova gerência, opened its doors.
Built around a well, Poço dos Sabores can be translated to mean “well of flavors.” Fabio saw no reason to call it something else, since name recognition is useful when launching a restaurant.
Because for Fabio, it’s all about flavor, fueled by memory and instinct.
This restaurant is not the anxiety-fueled dream of a prodigal son trying to vanquish his demons, like you see in the American television show, The Bear. Instead, it’s a deliberate effort to take what’s good – avó’s home cooking and international fine dining – to create an unforgettable experience. When you enter the rustic dining room, Fabio, Sonia, and team members Herson Tavares, Marta Luis, João Silva, and Thushara Sreekumar want you to feel at home.
After stints working front of house at restaurants in Óbidos and elsewhere in the area, followed by a few years working for a fruit export business, Fabio moved to London, where his sister was living. He got a job at Jamie Oliver’s 15, a cocktail bar and restaurant with a cozy vibe. Thanks to the restaurant’s open kitchen set-up, when he wasn’t busy working as a waiter, or later, a bartender, Fabio could observe the chefs in action. And when they innovated, he was there, ready to taste their creations and develop an innate understanding of how to make flavors shine.
Homesickness and Sonia pulled him back to Portugal, where he worked at a restaurant in Sintra and further incubated his dream. “I was always tasting,” he says.
Soon after he opened Poço dos Sabores, Fabio and his team contracted COVID-19. It was, he admits, a shaky start to a business that is known to be precarious.
Undaunted, Fabio slowly and deliberately learned all aspects of the business, such as where to source the highest quality products and how to effectively butcher meat and filet fish. “I’m a fast learner and I’m also resourceful,” he says modestly. Fabio spent the first two years working in the front of the house before moving into the kitchen.
“I learned by understanding what real flavor is meant to be,” he explains.
Take his cataplana, which devotees say is the gold standard for cataplanas. It’s rich with flavorful broth and seafood, and makes you want to dive into the pot and fully immerse yourself in the taste sensation.
In fact, listening to Fabio describe his approach to menu development makes your tastebuds tingle. He changes the menu every three to four months and will try things out as specials first to see what is popular. Orange sweet potatoes were a hit; celery root, unfamiliar to many diners, was a harder sell. But Fabio doesn’t take it personally. He balances innovation with a desire to please and judging from his popularity with Portuguese and international diners, he’s succeeding.
You won’t find a prato do dia on the menu – the commitment to sourcing the highest quality ingredients is incompatible with the concept of a cheap meal. And, unlike most Portuguese restaurants, Poço dos Sabores isn’t closed for dinner on Sundays and Mondays. The clientele is a mixture of Portuguese and other nationalities and, depending on what is happening at nearby Óbidos castle, the restaurant can be very busy.
Waiter Herson Tavares will often report that diners say the food they are eating reminds them of their own avós. Fabio says the biggest surprise he’s experienced since opening his own restaurant is how many patrons ask for the opportunity to thank him.
The afternoon we spoke, Fabio was planning to make arroz de camarão for his grandmother’s dinner. If she liked it, it may eventually appear on the Poço dos Sabores menu.
When he thinks about the future, in addition to innovation, Fabio wants to stay focused on consistency. “As long as I’m in the kitchen, nothing will change,” he says. “I’ll keep buying the best ingredients and make them taste the best that I can.”
