TFP's Yeatman Hotel is now officially open!

[Roy Hersh]

Congratulations to The Fladgate Partnership. Adrian you deserve a large format bottle of Port for bringing this massive project to fruition.

http://www.cntraveller.com/news/2010/ju ... n-portugal

[Cynthia J]

Walked past on 23 July and took a couple photos too - was just comparing them to your photos, Roy, and not much has changed on that side of building (towards Taylor's lodge), which I think may be services entrances. Wholeheartedly wish them well, their success will be a great thing for Gaia. Now... do you know anything about what they are doing on the other side of town, where they've torn down all the old Delaforce armazens, below Cockburn, on Rua Serpa Pinto? Unconfirmed rumour of another hotel, but my source had doubts about its source.

[Symington Family]

Cynthia, it's to be the CS Vintage Hotel. The same guy that now owns Vintage House in Pinhão. Apparantly an all steel and smoked glass affair which I'm not sure quite fits in with Gaia!
Dom Symington

[Frederick Blais]

Cynthia, it's to be the CS Vintage Hotel. The same guy that now owns Vintage House in Pinhão. Apparantly an all steel and smoked glass affair which I'm not sure quite fits in with Gaia!
Dom Symington

Where is the lobby group to protect Gaia.... Is Gaia protected by Unesco or only the Old Porto area?

I heard last year that the mayor of Gaia accepted a 3 billions plan for hotel development !?!?!?

[Glenn E.]

Cynthia, it's to be the CS Vintage Hotel. The same guy that now owns Vintage House in Pinhão. Apparantly an all steel and smoked glass affair which I'm not sure quite fits in with Gaia!
Dom Symington

Where is the lobby group to protect Gaia.... Is Gaia protected by Unesco or only the Old Porto area?

I heard last year that the mayor of Gaia accepted a 3 billions plan for hotel development !?!?!?

Sadly, the UNESCO World Heritage Site is basically the Ribeira district in Porto, Ponte Dom Luis I, and the monastery in Gaia. It's slightly more than that on the Porto side, but for all practical purposes that's it.

[Cynthia J]

Shuddering slightly at thought of smoked glass and steel - here's hoping it won't be so tall that it blocks the view of Cockburn's above - maybe then it won't be SUCH a potential eyesore. Thanks for the update, Dominic.

[Glenn E.]

Shuddering slightly at thought of smoked glass and steel - here's hoping it won't be so tall that it blocks the view of Cockburn's above - maybe then it won't be SUCH a potential eyesore. Thanks for the update, Dominic.

Yeah, this is worrisome. Didn't they learn anything from Paris?

You know why Parisians say that the best view of Paris is from the top of the Montparnasse tower? Because from there you can see the Eiffel tower and Sacre Coeur, and you CANNOT see the Montparnasse tower.

[Cynthia J]

FYI all ... received email today with invitation to their first tasting dinner on 2 September, featuring Borges wines for more information contact
· Teresa Frazão ou Marta Pinto
· E mail: events@theyeatman.com
· Telefone: 22 013 4200

the message and attached menu/wine list were in Portuguese -oh bummer, tried to attach menu, but pdfs not allowed. I'll try to figure out something else.

[Cynthia J]

Right, not allowing a word doc either, so I'll just paste text here, sorry it's so long. I started trying to translate, but am stumped by some of the culinary terms, literal translations don't make sense to me, and a couple words aren't in my dictionary. Is anyone out there portuguese, who can help?

Jantar Vinico Borges Quinta-Feira, 02 de Setembro de 2010

Welcome drink
The Yeatman’s Signature Cocktail
Pink & Pale

“As Boas Vindas do chefe”

Minha Interpretação do Meão com Presunto “2010”
Melão da Póvoa, Presunto do porco preto (melon and presunto is like prosciutto from black pork, a specialty of Alentejo, fantastic stuff)
Farinha fria de terrincho velho e germindados de ervas frescas (this one I cant figure out, except sprouts of fresh herbs)
Borges Reserva Dão Branco 2009

O Galo do Mar
Peixe galo com escamas de tomate tostado, Arroz cremoso de Búzios (this one I cant figure out - roasted tomato, creamy rice Buzios style)
Ravioli de vegetais grelhados e molho ce cebolinho (Ravioli of grilled veg and chive or fresh onion sauce)
Quinta de Simaens 2009

Boi charolês
Jarret cozinhado lentamente com cogumelos e cebolinhas (something cooked slowly with mushrooms and fresh onions - boi is ox, jarret is hamstring...???)
Batata trufada, espargos verdes glaciados e molho de anchovas (truffled potatoes, cold asparagus and anchovy sauce)
Borges Grande Reserva Douro 2005

A Pêra Rocha do Oeste (Rocha Pear of the West)
Cozida com “Colheita tardia Dão” strussel de pinhões (cooked in the wine, accompanied by a strudel of pine nuts)
Gelado de amendoa Tostada e caldo ligeiro de aipo bola baunilhado (toasted almond icecream, stumped by this - a thin broth of celery? a scoop (ball) of vanilla?)
Borges Colheita Tardia Dão 2005

Infusão do Chefe ou Café e Mignardises

Preço por pessoa:
50.00€ com vinhos incluidos

[Roy Hersh]

We stay at the CS Madeira Hotel in Funchal which is nice and just far enough away from downtown to keep things from being touristy. That company has a lot of money and I am not surprised that they've decided to give the Melia Hotel and the new Yeatman a run for their money.

I did an article about five years ago saying basically ... 'come see Gaia now, before it is too late.' I have often written about how Gaia was going to change and what changes were taking place in the early stages. It is sad to see and along with road closures and those ugly "pop ups" in the street to block off access, there are so many more changes to come. For those of you who are envisioning coming to see what the old traditional city was like ... HURRY, before long it is going to be crammed with new touristic destination spots. Ah, memories of the good old days which for me only dats back 16 years, but that was such a very different feel to Gaia than today.

It seems that the early reports that came from TFP about the opening of their hotel, were somewhat "optimistic." I hope that they do very well though as I am very much looking forward to visiting the property.

[Daniel R.]

I started trying to translate, but am stumped by some of the culinary terms, literal translations don't make sense to me, and a couple words aren't in my dictionary. Is anyone out there portuguese, who can help?

YES, OF COURSE

Farinha fria de terrincho velho e germindados de ervas frescas (this one I cant figure out, except sprouts of fresh herbs)

TERRINCHO VELHO IS A CHEESE (DOP FROM TRAS OS MONTES)

Peixe galo com escamas de tomate tostado, Arroz cremoso de Búzios (this one I cant figure out - roasted tomato, creamy rice Buzios style)

PEIXE GALO IS JOHN DORY. BUZIOS IS A SMALL CLAM.

Boi charolês
Jarret cozinhado lentamente com cogumelos e cebolinhas (something cooked slowly with mushrooms and fresh onions - boi is ox, jarret is hamstring...???)

BOI CHAROLES IS BEEF, NO IDEA WHAT JARRET IS.

Gelado de amendoa Tostada e caldo ligeiro de aipo bola baunilhado (toasted almond icecream, stumped by this - a thin broth of celery? a scoop (ball) of vanilla?)

YES, SPOT ON!

[Eric Menchen]

PEIXE GALO IS JOHN DORY. BUZIOS IS A SMALL CLAM.

Well, I was going to ask what John Dory was, but was smart enough to look it up first, and found it here. Ugly and beautiful at the same time. What does it taste like? Apparently they don't swim across the pond.

[Cynthia J]

Daniel R - Muito obrigada pela ajuda! It sounds... interesting. Wish I could attend, but not feasible, alas... If anyone out there does attend, please report back!

[Daniel R.]

What does it taste like? Apparently they don't swim across the pond.

Delicious. Not very different from monkfish in terms of texture and flavour. In Portugal normally prepared in fillets.

[Glenn E.]

Interesting... I thought that John Dory was another name for Hake, but that's apparently not true. I was aware of the name "St. Peter's Fish" as well. I believe that I have had both, but couldn't really tell you anything about them at this point.

[Eric Menchen]

Delicious. Not very different from monkfish in terms of texture and flavour. In Portugal normally prepared in fillets.

Thanks for the explanation Daniel. I'll have to try it, and not recommend it to my wife, as we differ on our taste for monkfish.