Fafe and Nazaré: chef Nuno Diniz’s famous stews return in 2026 (with limited seats)

These two stews from Portugal, now announced, “will be made in different ways, due to my health condition”, explains Nuno Diniz. It all started with a challenge from Marco Portugal, from Taberna d’Adélia, and Diogo Novais Pereira, from the Porinhos restaurant. “I accepted, on the condition that it would only be for 20 people, but they quickly removed me, and it became for 80”, reveals the chef. “I immediately warned that I would not go near the stoves, although I contemplated the possibility of cutting one or two sausages, symbolically”, he explains, adding that he is available to be “a kind of curator of the meal”.

Accept the challenge, preparations began immediately. “A commitment was made to only use the ingredients indicated by me, acquired wherever I say so and that the team strictly follows my rules”. With conditions now clear, Nuno Diniz confesses his satisfaction with this return: “I feel good, I have the strength and desire to do it”.

Marco Portugal, from Taberna d’Adélia (Rua das Traineiras, 12, Nazaré. Tel. 262552134) confirms the event, and is also pleased that Nuno Diniz accepted the challenge. Nuno Diniz’s Cozido will cost €55 per person, drinks not included. The date and value of the stew at the restaurant Porinhos (Avenida da Torre, 87, Arões, Fafe. Tel. 253492132) will be announced in due course.

In the 2025 edition of the Boa Cama Boa Mesa Guide, regarding the Carreira Award, we can read: “Over the course of 14 years, Nuno Diniz traveled the country, between villages, houses, fireplaces and storage rooms, in search of recipes, practices, customs and specificities of more than 120 varieties of sausages and smoked meats. The result of this journey is compiled in the 2019 work “Entre Fumos e Ventos – Fumeiros e Enchidos de Portugal”, the most exhaustive collection made on the topic, which the author still considers incomplete. The book was distinguished with the “Gastronomic Literature Prize” from the International Academy of Gastronomy in 2020.

For his invaluable contribution to Portuguese gastronomy, through the investigation of techniques, practices, and ancestral knowledge linked to the unique terroir of each region, always with deep respect for the product and those who produce it who, through teaching, passed on to different generations, the 2025 Career Award from the “Guia Boa Cama Boa Mesa” is awarded to Nuno Diniz. Born in Lisbon in 1960, he graduated in Law from Universidade Livre, worked on radio, was a columnist for several publications and was a rugby coach for 20 years. But it was in the kitchen and teaching that he gained greater visibility.

Chef, gastronome, trainer at the Lisbon Hotel School where he taught “Culinary Arts” for more than a decade, he was a professor of “Gastronomic Culture in Europe” in the first Degree in Gastronomy, in Coimbra. A traveler, he cooked as a guest in dozens of countries and was also a consultant in several restaurants such as Tágide, Rota das Sedas, Grémio Literário, Il Tartufo, Hotel York House, Hotel Santa Margarida, Volver, Quinta do Monte d’Oiro, or Adega dos Apalaches.

Only at the age of 60 did he decide to open a project under his own name, in Lisbon, in partnership with Rodrigo Menezes. The ambitious Revolution, however, was short-lived: it opened in mid-March 2020, days before the Covid 19 pandemic dictated the widespread closure of restaurants. Revealing the consideration for the product and those who work with it, the Revolution menu included the names of the producers. The brief adventure is told in the work “A Cozinha Popular Elitista – Os Pratos do Revolucion” published in 2023.

Throughout his career, Nuno Diniz brought to the urban gastronomic lexicon names such as roleira, palaio da comareira, or negalhos, previously restricted to production sites. He also made them known through the stews that, once a year, he prepared in several restaurants, bringing together around 40 examples of sausages and smoked meats. Unique, the meals took several days to prepare and, with limited places, reservations were sold out in a few minutes.

A constant presence at the Cooks’ Congress, between 2007 and 2019, his career as a judge covers events such as Chef Cook of the Year, Cuisine with Port and Douro Wine, Cataplana Experience, Chaîne des Rôtisseurs International Young Chefs Competition, Bacalhau Revolt, Top Chef, Flavors and Cinema, Portugal é eu, or Jovem Talento da Gastronomia.

Recently, after moving to the village of Sezelhe, in Montalegre, he launched “Chronicles of a Cook in Exile”, published in 2004, a reflection on the gastronomic journey that continues to shape him. The “Guia Boa Cama Boa Mesa” Career Award, awarded every year, aims to pay tribute and praise, in a public way, a personality who stands out in the various aspects associated with “a good bed and a good table”. In this sense, Nuno Diniz is a widely recognized example of dedication to “good food”.

The award has already distinguished Vítor Sobral (2016), Evaristo Cardoso (2017), Dionísio Pestana (2018), João Pires (2019), Jorge Rebelo de Almeida (2020), Lurdes Graça and Emílio Andrade (2021), António Trindade (2022), Justa Nobre (2023) and Isabel Costa and João Tomás (2024)”.