INTERVIEW BY DIÁRIO INSULAR WITH CARLOS NUNO, CHEF AND FOUNDER OF THE RESTAURANT “SINTONIA”

You are only 23 years old, but you have already worked in several Michelin-starred restaurants in Portugal and Spain. How did your love of gastronomy come about, and what has been your career path?

The passion started early. When I was about ten years old, I was already spending time in the kitchen at home, experimenting, observing, and learning. I remember watching cooking programs and feeling enormous curiosity about that world. My father traveled a lot, and he was the one who passed on this “bug” for cooking to me. We even had a game: whenever he returned from a new destination, I would make a dish inspired by that country. This routine awakened my taste for discovering different flavors, cultures, and cooking methods. At the age of 18, I decided to follow this path and enrolled at the Lisbon School of Hospitality and Tourism, where I graduated. After that, I began my professional journey: I worked at Alma, run by chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, and at FiftySeconds, then under the direction of chef Martin Berasategui, and took a significant step forward when I arrived at El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, a restaurant with three Michelin stars. It was there that my horizons broadened and I began to question myself about identity. I saw how excellent cuisine had a deep connection to its territory, not using caviar, for example, and I realized that my path was to return to my roots, to the Azores, where my maternal family comes from, to create a project that reflected who I am and where I come from.

You recently opened your first restaurant, “Sintonia,” located in São Mateus. What connection do you have to Terceira? What made you settle on the island?

Although I was born and raised in Lisbon, I have always had a very strong connection to the Azores through my maternal family. Since I was a child, I often came to Terceira and always felt that the island was my second home. The silence, nature, and people’s relationship with the sea have always impressed me. I chose to settle here because I believe it is possible to create haute cuisine in the Azores, using what is ours. I wanted to show that we don’t need to import luxury, because true luxury lies in the authenticity, freshness, and truth of local products. Sintonia was born out of this desire and a feeling of gratitude, a way of giving back to the land that has always welcomed me.

What concept do you explore at Sintonia, and what has customer feedback been like?

The concept of Sintonia is an introduction to fine dining, but with a deeply Terceira identity and a very personal approach to cuisine. To my surprise, the public has embraced it more than I expected. We have sought to reinvent Azorean cuisine by using local products and returning to the flavors and memories of the past, while combining them with modern international techniques.

Is the focus on local products a hallmark of your cuisine? What characteristics do you highlight in Azorean products?

Local products are the image of my cuisine. I advocate investing locally and combating globalization in haute cuisine. Fine dining is not just about caviar and foie gras; this is where we want to set ourselves apart from the rest. Azorean products, in addition to their flavor and variety, carry history and emotion. They reflect everything that has been experienced in this unique piece of land in the middle of the Atlantic. It is this truth that fascinates me.

What challenges did you encounter in opening this restaurant on Terceira Island? Is insularity an added difficulty?

Insularity is an ambiguous reality, as incredible as it is harsh. Starting a project here was not easy, and there are a thousand stories that prove it. Everything that comes from “outside” brings with it the challenge of time and distance. But it is precisely this insularity that shapes us: it forces us to create, to reinvent, to be resilient. It is from this that our strength and our identity are born.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.