Paulo / The kitchen
An open fire and no wall in front of it
Everything is cooked on oak and vine cuttings, in full view of the room. This is how that works, and where the food comes from.
One fire, lit at four
There is no gas range in the building. Everything is cooked on oak and vine cuttings, over a grill that can be raised and dropped by hand, and in a wood oven that holds its heat overnight.
That constraint decides the menu. Dishes that need a rolling boil or a precise 62 degrees are not on it. What is left is the food fire does best: crust, smoke, and slow collapse.
The pass is the best table in the house
Ten seats run the length of the counter, level with the grill. You see the cuts go on, the fat catch, the rest. Cooks talk to you between orders because there is no wall to talk through.
It is loud, it is warm, and it is where we send anyone eating alone. Two of the ten are held back each night for walk-ins, released at six.
Where it comes from
Short chains, few suppliers, and whole animals rather than boxed cuts. It costs more and wastes less.
Meat
Whole beasts from two farms within ninety minutes, butchered here and aged in the cellar. Cuts that will not grill get cured or go into the Sunday roast.
Fish
Day boats on the coast, landed in the morning and on the fire that night. If the sea is rough there is no fish, and we say so.
Vegetables
One grower, one delivery, three days a week. The menu is written around whatever arrives rather than the other way round.
Wood
Oak from managed woodland and vine cuttings from a co-operative that used to burn them as waste. Both give a cleaner smoke than charcoal.
Who is cooking
A kitchen of seven, a floor of five, and no separate management layer. Everyone works the pass at some point in the week, including whoever wrote the menu.
We train in-house and pay above the local median, because the cost of turnover in a fire kitchen is higher than the cost of paying properly. If you want to cook here, we are usually hiring for something.