Since Christmas Day, December 25th, the Penha Longa Resort – set within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park – has been home to a premium chocolate shop, open to anyone who wants to visit. The luxury hotel only officially announced the news at the end of March, but the chocolates have had their own dedicated space for a few months now.
The Chocolate by Penha Longa is the hotel’s own brand, now celebrating its tenth anniversary. It all started with a small chocolate bar left in the rooms as a welcome gift for guests – a tradition that continues to this day. Since 2017, when master chocolatier Francisco Siopa joined the team, the brand has evolved with a variety of special collections, which until recently were sold at the hotel’s B Lounge bar.
“That’s when the idea came up: why not start selling desserts and bonbons? And why not try something different like a chocolate king cake or our own twist on folar?” Francisco Siopa told Time Out Cascais. “So we bought a small display case and placed it in the bar.”
The creative ideas came naturally over time. “If we’ve got a golf course at Penha Longa, why not make golf ball-shaped chocolates (€5)? And what about chocolate lipsticks (€4)? That idea actually came up one Easter for the kids – but it’s been a huge hit with adults too,” says Siopa.
Over the years, the team nurtured the dream of having a dedicated space in the hotel for the brand, which kept building its story and chocolate collections. “It’s a bit like the Michelin Guide,” Siopa explains. “You don’t get a star just for making a pretty dish – everyone makes pretty dishes. Michelin awards stars to those with vision who follow through on it. We had to feel confident that we could maintain the quality and identity of this brand – the first pastry brand of its kind in a hotel. We took it step by step, and the management also had to feel that we were fully committed to the project. And this really grew from the drive of the whole team.” Supporting Siopa is pastry creative chef Inês Freitas, his right hand in the kitchen and in bringing these sweet visions to life.
So they transformed a former wine tasting cellar into what now feels like a chocolate jewellery shop – bonbons and bars are displayed in a central glass case as if they were luxury items crafted from precious materials. And honestly, in gastronomic terms, that’s not far from the truth.
They work with cocoa sourced from Criollo cacao trees grown in Mexico, Cuba and São Tomé and Príncipe, and favour seasonal ingredients and producers who follow sustainable, environmentally friendly practices. Currently, the shop offers chocolates from four distinct collections.
Among the highlights are bonbons like the Penha Longa Forest (€2), made with dark chocolate from São Tomé and Príncipe, sour cherry and cherry liqueur; Spirited Away (€2), a nod to the Japanese film of the same name, with sudachi (a Japanese citrus fruit), sesame and chocolate; and Pollock (€2), a tribute to American painter Jackson Pollock, which channels his abstract splashes of colour through passion fruit, yuzu and velvet chocolate.
As for the bars, there’s the Penha Longa (€15), with 70% cocoa chocolate and hazelnut praline; Ocean (€15), made with gold chocolate, caramel, passion fruit, guava and coconut; and Popcorn (€15), which mixes gold chocolate with popcorn praline. You’ll also find salted caramel truffles (€2), chocolate “azulejos” (€5), and the latest arrivals: filled chocolate bars with cookie-inspired flavours like Oreo, chocolate chip, butter biscuit and speculoos. Everything is available to buy on-site or to order for delivery.
“Pastry isn’t always taken seriously in the hotel world,” says Francisco Siopa, “but we want to shine a spotlight on the work we do. It’s a field that’s growing within fine dining. Chocolate is being used more and more – even if prices have shot up over the past two years.” Siopa is committed to staying ahead of the curve when it comes to trends in the chocolate world and notes that growing interest in the field is reflected in the increasing number of pastry interns coming from hospitality schools to train at Penha Longa.
But the ambitions of The Chocolate by Penha Longa don’t stop there. “At the start of the year, I told the team: the shop is done – now we want new projects!” says chef Francisco Siopa. “We’ve got a few ideas on the table. We’d love to open a bakery here, focused on French-style boulangerie, so we can offer large croissants and Napolitanas with different kinds of creams.” It’s all part of a broader renovation phase that the Penha Longa Resort has been undergoing in recent years.
There’s also a unique project in the works that brings chocolate into the spa experience. “We’re creating a chocolate shaped like a labyrinth – which is a signature feature of our spa,” Siopa reveals. The plan is to develop a chocolate for each of the five senses the spa aims to awaken, plus a sixth chocolate dedicated to massage. The full experience is expected to launch this summer.
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