Blend All About Wine Caxena Restaurant

Text José Silva | Translation Bruno Ferreira

It is in an unlikely place that we find this restaurant that would fit into any inland or coast city.

Rather, it’s located on top of Serra do Suajo, Arcos de Valdevez’s municipality, a place of great beauty and an outstanding landscape – rugged hills with undergrowth and some trees. The fauna, very characteristic, consists mainly of “cachena” – local breed’s cattle that feeds on the abundant pastures – and “garranos” – wild horses living freely in those hills. There’s also some wild boars and deers. Wolves are quite abundant too. On those clear skies, kites and eagles flit, along with some more ordinary birds. It was this peacefulness, this tranquility, all this beauty that prompted the owner, a Barcelos entrepreneur, to buy a ruin – close to the restaurant’s site – and rehabilitate it for vacations and weekend getaways with his family. But when he decided to open up the space to rural tourism, he was never able to go there with his family again, such was the success.

So he bought, a bit further ahead, several houses of a small village, rehabilitating and equipping them for the same purpose, and with similar success. And it came naturally, following the requests of the many many guests, the acquisition of another ruin to rehabilitate and build the restaurant “Caxena”, close to the tourism houses.

With a rustic look, in granite – abundant there, molding the landscape – and timber’s finishing, whether on the inside or outside.

Inside, on the ground-floor, a nice bar with a counter, sofas and a showcase of some of the region’s products for sale. This bar also works as a wine bar until 23 p.m..

In a corner, some antique parts of what used to be a lagar, and inside, another surprise, the restaurant’s wine cellar, beautifully decorated and filled with many references to good wines of several regions.

This space is also the restaurant’s wine list, since the clients are invited to enter and pick the wine\s for their meal there. All price-tagged and extraordinarily affordable, might I say.

A wooden staircase leads us to the first floor where the room opens into the landscape through huge windows, with plenty of light coming in. Once again the decoration is marvelous, with timber ceilings just like the floor, in timber planks.

Some walls in granite and others in brick, one of which has a beautiful and useful heat recuperator embedded, conferring comfort to the space in this cold weather.

The tables are made of good timber and very well-set, with quality utensils. The service is led by competent, trained, tasteful, attentive and nice people – impeccable. The menu is short and makes use of local products divulging them properly. There’s also the snacks that we can enjoy during the day at the wine bar in company of the several types of wines. We started our meal with regional bread and Arco de Valdevez’s corn bread, bought to a supplier that respects tradition – prepared with corn flour and baked in wood oven.

Joined by delicious ham, dry cheese and amazing cottage cheese – also local products.

Next to us, at a support table, we find the beans exhibited – also locally produced –, tarrestre bean, in brown, beige, white, red and even black tones, which would be used on the rice and can be purchased there.

Then we had a mix of appetizers, consisting of padrón peppers, sauteed mushrooms and two cachena cow meat based makings: medium grilled espetada – with meat cubes, chorizo, bacon, tomato and green pepper – and a stew – small pieces of stewed cow meat with onion and carrot, the sauce was excellent.

We also tried white “belouros” made of corn flour mashed with some fat, stretched to form a loaf, of which slices are cut and fried in fat. Then, on the dish they are sprinkled with cumin. A masterpiece of simplicity and flavor.

And then it was time for the main course – we had 2/3 choices to pick from. We chose the cachena’s veal steak grilled on coal with salt and accompanied with malandrinho rice of tarrestre bean.

The meat was tasty, tender, juicy and the rice was amazing and well seasoned.

We ended the meal with two local products: orange, very sweet and juicy, and Arcos’ cigars, thin pastry with sweet eggs.

This meal was matched with a red Vinho Verde from the region, Cerqueiral 2014, served in characteristic small bowls, full-bodied, thick and soft in the nose but concentrated, fresh and intense acidity in the mouth. Indeed a good match.