04/01/2026
Trying to fit austa's 2025 into only 20 slides for IG has been almost impossible...but here we go!
The year began on a high as we gained our very first accolade from , attending a surreal award ceremony to collect 1 🌞 alongside some of our heros, restaurants and chefs across Portugal that inspired to create our own.
Back at the restaurant, the produce poured in; wild mushrooms, plants a plenty, seafood from seasnails to blue fin tuna, turbot to pink dentex, red porgy + brill all sourced from our Algarvian lands and seas. Iberian black pork, heritage beef, game + guinea fowl - all changing with the months to reveal the best at the height of their season, transformed by our team, David, Bia, André, Carlos, Rodrigo, Sonia, Sabbir, Hasib, Chatu + Paulo.
In the garden, Barbara's green fingers gave us the best beetroots before she joined André, Bea, and David in the orchard for our very first olive harvest. We had vibrant tomatoes until October, leeks and cabbages, pomegranates, mangoes + endless citrus. And what we couldn't use fresh we pickled, preserved + fermented, nothing to waste.
The menu shifted constantly as pushed the team to create and adjust, always putting produce first. Relentless experiments, testing + trying of techniques to ensure we represented the beauty of the ingredient + the integrity of its producer, while offering dishes that were simplistic but technical behind the scenes, flavour at the front with no frills.
Bea, Barbara, Lara, Luisa, Leyla + Gio hosted guests from near + far; Uruguay, Argentina, Taiwan, Finland, France, Lithuania, Singapore, Denmark (inc. king 🥹) + many more with their individual blends of hospitality, curiosity + warmth - brightened by knowledge from 'austa university', our learning sessions that go beyond the plate.
With highs, came lows, immense challenges we never could have imagined. But that brought growth, fulfilment + resilience - a deeper sense of purpose propped up by our team, family, friends and our kindest clients. Grateful for every lesson, every visitor, every producer, and every plate - we step into 2026 grounded, hungry, and ready for whats next!
