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It all started with an email. We received an invitation to visit Aqafarina and, since we couldn’t find any articles or news about the place, we assumed it was a new restaurant in Cascais. What we discovered later, with our stomachs already full of delicious homemade pasta, is that it actually opened in 2022. How had this hidden gem managed to escape every journalist?
The man behind the project is Italian Luca Bastagli Ferrari, who came to the Linha for family reasons. “I have three daughters and two of them decided to marry Portuguese men, from Cascais,” he says. During the pandemic, he came to visit and fell in love with the town. “We arrived here and liked it. It’s very similar to southern Italy. So we thought: why not stay here and open an Aqafarina?”
Aqafarina began as an Italian company producing bread, focaccia and cheese. Ferrari, who had extensive business experience outside the restaurant world—namely in real estate—decided to invest in this project. In doing so, one of his passions—food—became his final major venture: opening an Aqafarina restaurant in Cascais.
The philosophy is simple: do a few things, but do them well. The kitchen is entirely focused on pasta. “Every morning we prepare several different types of fresh pasta, from linguine to spaghetti or macaroni,” explains Luca. “When we say it’s homemade pasta, it really is homemade—we don’t buy pasta from outside.”
The ingredients are imported directly from Italy and the pasta is paired with sauces also made in-house. The goal is to ensure freshness and authenticity at all times. “What we believe in is giving our customers a fresh—and typically Italian—product.”
Ferrari compares this way of working to the evolution of medicine. “Thirty years ago, when you went to the doctor, there was one person who dealt with everything. Nowadays, we have specialists for each situation. I think restaurants should be the same.”
Time Out Cascais’ visit began with two bruschette topped with burrata, goat’s cheese, basil and tomato (€8). We moved on to the Gastone focaccia, with black pepper pancetta, burrata and sage pesto (€9). The focaccia is prepared on site, using a process that begins the day before. “In the evening we prepare the dough and let it rise,” explains Luca. The next day, it’s baked and used in the sandwiches on the menu.
As for pasta, highlights include the linguine ai frutti di mare (€19), served with mussels, clams, prawns and crab, and the ricotta and spinach tortelloni with Bolognese ragù (€18.50). The latter follows one of the most classic combinations in Italian cuisine, with beef, pork and Mediterranean herbs.
For dessert, we tried the tiramisù (€6.50), one of several traditional sweet options.
The space also aims to convey a homely atmosphere. On the walls you’ll find old kitchen-related objects, personal mementos and even paintings made by customers. “We try to decorate the space as if it were a home, so people can feel at ease,” says the owner.
Two years after opening, the project has grown. Upstairs, Copo Alto was born—a cocktail bar with a terrace. “If people come here, have something to eat and then want to relax into the night, they can go upstairs and have a cocktail,” he explains.
The future may involve expanding the concept further in Portugal. “We’ll probably open another Aqafarina in Lisbon…,” Ferrari reveals. And it doesn’t stop there. “And perhaps in Faro.” The format, he says, has been working. Still, he prefers to grow slowly. “We’ve already received many offers to open an Aqafarina in Brazil and Germany,” he says, but his priority is elsewhere: “I’m too old to build a big company. What I can do is focus more on the country that is now my country. And that country is Portugal.”
Largo Cidade de Vitória, 32, Travessa das Floras, 4. Mon–Sun 12.00–22.00