Summerlicious July 21: Chiado

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Chiado serves haute-Portuguese cuisine on the distant corner of little Italy, far enough from the thuggish street that has such icons asDolce Gelato. An antiquated room is dressed with period paintings, and staffed by kind, overly-gracious but forgetting waiters who serve wrong mains but are quick to correct their mistake. A work of art arrives as an amuse bouche, the first of its kind in summerlicious. Rosemary swim in a globule of honey beside a streak of balsamic reduction to decorate an austere slice of fermented cow milk cheese undulating in its wetness. Flaky phyllo pastry envelops a sweetly peeling duck confit as tasty as pulled pork and presents like a pretentious Asian dumpling sitting in a sunny wine sauce. The skate fish could have used more citrusy fruits to cut through the fish and risotto but where they are present, they pair well with the wavy risotto and substantial skate. And finally, a custardy Flan, thickly sliced and brightly yellow stands centre stage to berry pieces so haphazardly scattered and all the same, artistic, as the meal started.