The Land & The Ocean: Our Summer Dinner Series

There's a particular kind of evening we're chasing this summer, long shadows across the courtyard, the last heat of the day easing off, a table set outside as the light turns gold. It's the kind of evening that asks for good food, good wine, and not much else. That's the spirit behind **The Land & The Ocean**, our new weekly dinner series running every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 7:30 or 8pm.

Each week, we're building a fixed menu around the same idea: the best of what grows around us in Cercal do Alentejo, paired with the best of what comes from the coast nearby. Local, seasonal, organic. Three nights, three very different menus, each telling the same story from a different angle.

**Mondays** start close to home, leaning into the land. Artisanal toast comes with black olive tapenade and lupins, followed by a garden leaf salad with codfish and crispy chickpeas (swapped for fruit and toasted nuts on the vegan menu). The main is a handmade zucchini ravioli, filled with local sheep's ricotta and wild spinach, set on a slow-cooked tomato sauce and finished with basil from our own garden. Tofu stands in for the ricotta on the vegan plate. We close with a seasonal fruit crumble made with fruit from our orchard, gluten-free, and pour a glass of Monte da Carochinha Orange alongside it.

**Wednesdays** open with artisanal toast and homemade hummus, olives marinated in-house, before moving into a Catch of the Day ceviche brightened with banana purée, greens, and citrus (a seasonal vegetable carpaccio stands in beautifully for our vegan guests). The main is a miso-glazed eggplant steak marinated in miso, soy, and honey, finished with chimichurri, roasted potatoes, and a cooling mint yogurt sauce. We close with a ricotta cheesecake on an oat-and-nut base, layered with our homemade seasonal fruit preserve (a tofu version is available for vegan guests). We're pouring a rosé from Adega das Vinhas Novas alongside it.

**Saturdays** lean further into the ocean. We start with baba ganoush, marinated olives, and artisanal toast, followed by a watermelon, cucumber, and lime gazpacho, cold, bright, and exactly what a summer evening calls for. The main course is our Brazilian shrimp moqueca: shrimp and seasonal vegetables simmered gently in a fragrant coconut broth, served over a rice and quinoa blend with crispy farofa (roasted marinated tofu for our vegan guests). Dessert is an almond panna cotta with seasonal fruit jam which is gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan. We're recommending the Almejado white to go with it.

Both menus run as a fixed dinner at €50 per person, and both nights ask for advance booking by 1pm on the day. We keep these dinners intimate, and we want to make sure every table gets the same unhurried pace.

This is food meant to be eaten slowly, outside, with people you like. We hope you'll join us, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, or all three.