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It feels like another lifetime. In fact, many lifetimes ago. Before being involved in restaurants such as Vela Latina, Nikkei, Forest or Char.cutaria, it was at Largo da Assunção that the Brazilian businesswoman Viviane Rocha began working in Portugal. Even after becoming involved in several gastronomic projects, there was a place that never left her mind: Casa do Largo – “I tried to buy it 18 years ago already,” she says during a press lunch attended by Time Out.
Now, the businesswoman can say that the emblematic Cascais house is hers, and it is here that her latest venture is born. She chose not to invent a new name, keeping the one locals know so well: Casa do Largo – inaugurated on 23 December – is a welcoming restaurant that focuses on a menu that respects Portuguese tradition, without forgetting the year in which it is served.
The story of the project begins long before the refurbishment and reopening. “When I arrived in Cascais, at the age of 30, we were always looking at this place,” recalls Viviane, explaining that Casa do Largo was for decades a meeting point for local society, with a bar, restaurant and even an old clandestine games room upstairs. “Anyone from Cascais knows where Casa do Largo is,” she says, stressing the responsibility of touching “something that is so valuable and so local” – especially as someone who was not born and raised in the town.
But her intention is an honest one: to recover a house with history, without erasing memories and keeping “the original character of the building”, even though some works were carried out. Where there were once 48 seats, there are now 96, a transformed mezzanine ready to welcome guests in a more cosy and private setting, and a large terrace to receive customers when the sun and warm weather return.
The mission is not to over-invent. “Right now, people are returning to what is history,” believes the businesswoman. The menu is born from this idea of returning to origins, with “Portuguese cuisine with some Mediterranean influence”, simply prepared dishes and a firm commitment to top-quality produce. For this, Viviane called on a long-time ally: chef Benjamin Villaças, still linked to Vela Latina and here responsible for gastronomic supervision and consultancy.
“It was a challenge for him,” she says, recalling how she convinced him to leave behind decades of routine – today he even comes to work in a T-shirt and trainers – to design a new menu and train the resident chef, Deyse Anjos, who runs the kitchen day to day. The goal is clear: absolute attention to detail, in the food, the décor and the service. “It’s in the details that our real difference lies,” she sums up.
On the menu there are classics with a personal touch. The beef carpaccio with island cheese and rocket (€17) immediately signals the link to tradition, replacing parmesan with Azorean cheese. The pica-pau of sirloin (€29) and the clams Bulhão Pato-style (€28.50) maintain the connection to Portuguese recipes, while the foie gras terrine with raspberry coulis (€17) shows the house’s more cosmopolitan side.
Among the main courses there are fish dishes such as tiger prawns with garlic rice (€34.50), while for meat there are, for example, Iberian black pork plumas with blood sausage rice (€33).
To finish the meal, desserts. There are only three: the Chocolate Delight (€9), pineapple roulade with coconut ice cream, and mille-feuille with cream and red berries (€9.50) – don’t tell anyone, but this last one was our favourite.
On the drinks list, in addition to wines, beers and soft drinks, you’ll find classic cocktails such as the Aperol Spritz (€12), the Moscow Mule (€14) or the Bloody Mary (€14).
After a discreet opening, the programme is now beginning to gain new momentum, with the introduction of themed dinners on Thursdays, designed as complete experiences where gastronomy, music, atmosphere and spirit come together. The first took place in January and was inspired by Spain, with sevillanas, music and a fixed menu created to match the theme. More editions will follow, announced over time on the restaurant’s Instagram, opening the door to new interpretations of the house and to different audiences.
Soon there will also be chef’s lunch specials and more family-style dishes, such as Brazilian feijoada or Portuguese boiled dinner. All in pursuit of Viviane’s main goal: “I want to create a home,” insists the businesswoman, where “whoever comes in no longer wants to leave”. Her home.
Casa do Largo, Largo da Assunção 6 (Cascais). Tue-Sun 12.00-16.00; 19.00-00.00
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