Corleone

From the street, the terrace immediately catches the eye. No wonder: the terrace of the Villa Cascais hotel, where Corleone is located, is beautiful. The sober but vivid colours call out to passers-by. And it's no different in the interior, where yellow and blue tones reign, summer colours, like Cascais, but also like southern Italy, which inspired Miguel Garcia to create an Italian restaurant that didn't yet exist in the village. The name has nothing to do with the mafia, but is a direct reference to Corleone, in Sicily. This is also the inspiration behind the cocktail menu - the focus on wines remains on Italy. "An Italian restaurant idealised and with a menu made by an Italian chef is something that didn't exist in Cascais", says Miguel. 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. As in a classic Italian restaurant, the menu is divided into antipasti, primi e secondi and dolci - "all made using traditional recipes from the south of Italy," he says. The starters include vitello tonnato (16€) or the irresistible arancini (12€). The primi include pasta such as carbonara (22€) or the eye-catching spaghetti all'aragosta (35€), with crustacean bisque, fresh tomatoes, rocket and grilled lobster tail. As for the secondi, you can order either a lemon risotto with grilled prawns (28€) or a breaded veal cutlet with rocket, fresh tomato and mozzarella (28€) - the famous milanese. For desserts, the same care and attention.