From the street, the terrace immediately catches the eye. No wonder: the terrace of the Villa Cascais hotel, where Corleone is located, is beautiful, even on grey days like the one we had on our visit. The sober but vivid colours call out to passers-by. And it's no different inland, where yellow and blue tones reign, summer colours, like Cascais, but also like the south of Italy, which inspired Miguel Garcia to create an Italian restaurant that didn't yet exist in the town.
"Cascais lacked a restaurant with 100% Italian cuisine, more focused on classic cuisine, with some signature dishes, a restaurant where we knew there was fresh pasta made every day", says Miguel Garcia, emphasising the "architecture of the space", which was designed by Inês Moura, the architect also responsible for the Bougain project. But it's the menu that the entrepreneur puts all his money on: "An Italian restaurant idealised and with a menu made by an Italian chef is something that didn't exist in Cascais".
The chef is Rodolfo de Santis. Born in Puglia, it was in Brazil that he made a name for himself in the last decade, when he created the Italian restaurant Nino, which quickly became the talk of the town and multiplied throughout the country. 26 restaurants later, Miguel Garcia caught up with the chef in a transitional phase, after he had sold the group he founded, and challenged him to a trip to Cascais.
"We met in 2003 in Geneva. We worked together at the Il Lago restaurant, which is inside the Four Seasons Hotel Des Bergues in Geneva. Then we each went our separate ways. Rodolfo moved to Brazil at the time and in the space of ten or twelve years founded a restaurant empire. He created Nino Cucina, which was a success, in São Paulo. And I, who lived in Brazil for ten years, ended up following his work a lot", says Miguel, recalling the years he spent in the hotel business. "I went to every restaurant he opened and we became friends. He's a professional I really like. Our values in terms of catering are very similar", he points out, exemplifying this with the “care for the product and the attention given to the teams”.
The menu is signed by Rodolfo de Santis, who will come to Cascais at least twice a year. As in a classic Italian restaurant, it is divided into antipasti, primi e secondi and dolci - "all made using traditional recipes from the south of Italy", says Miguel. Starters include vitello tonnato (16€), a veal slice with tuna sauce and frisée salad, irresistible arancini (12€) and a less obvious crudo di tonno (17€), a tuna crudo with mascarpone, egg yolk and artichokes.
The primi include pasta such as carbonara (22€), linguine al pesto (22€) with burrata and lemon zest, spaghetti alle vongole (26€) with clams, butternut squash, garlic and olive oil, or a very showy spaghetti all'aragosta (35€) with crustacean bisque, fresh tomato, rocket and grilled lobster tail.
As for the secondi, you can order a lemon risotto with grilled prawns (28€) and a grilled sea bass fillet with oven-baked courgettes and marinara sauce (29€), as well as a breaded veal cutlet with rocket, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella (28€) - the famous Milanese - or a veal ossobuco served in its own sauce, accompanied by saffron risotto (28€).
For desserts, the same care and attention, from profiteroles (12€) to caramelised apple tart with English cream and vanilla ice cream (12€) to Italian meringue with white chocolate mousse, red berries and strawberry coulis (13€). And there's no shortage of tiramisù (12€) and panna cotta (11€).
"Corleone is 100 per cent Italian. In other words, it's not a pizzeria, it's Italian. Pizzeria is one thing, Italian is another", emphasises Miguel Garcia, believing that the restaurant will also stand out for its service, a subject close to his heart. It was one of his concerns at Bougain, it's one of the great secrets of his success at Café de São Bento, which he bought in 2022, and it's no different here. Bougain's customers will even recognise some of the faces, such as Carlos Eduardo Silva, or Cadú. "Service and hospitality is something that both my team and I attach great importance to. It's something that in catering we have to be able to maintain because that's what also creates great memories. It's not just what I ate, but also the way I was served, the way I was treated", he says.
Miguel also makes a point of demystifying the name: "It has nothing to do with the mafia. In fact, the Corleone family never existed, it's fictitious. Corleone is a region of Sicily, the restaurant's decor was inspired by the south of Italy, very much by Sicily and the Malfi Coast". And that's also the inspiration behind the cocktail menu - the focus on wines remains on Italy.
"The place is iconic, the location is iconic, the view is unique, the place is unique. And that's what I also like about restaurants, is that the places are unique, that they can hardly be replicated. I think that's what makes the experience unique. It's not just a restaurant that could work in any other space", he concludes, promising more news for Cascais soon. "I'm going to open the Café de São Bento next year", he reveals. "This is what I had idealised for Cascais. At the moment, I don't want to do anything else, I want to have three good, consistent restaurants that people like once and come back to a second time."
Rua Fernandes Thomás 1 (Cascais). 964 236 029. Mon-Sun 12.30-15.00/19.00-00.00