Luis Caseiro

Luís Caseiro, whose culinary career spans more than 15 years, started out as a chef's assistant at a pastry shop in his native Figueira da Foz, a small town in central northwestern Portugal.

A graduate from the prestigious Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo do Porto (northwestern Portugal ), where he later became an instructor, Caseiro went through several culinary ranks, from line cook to garde-manger, to reaching positions as sous-chef and chef de cuisine.

In 1992, he was invited to join a team of chefs to represent Portugal at the European Hotel & Restaurant School Culinary Challenge , a culinary competition in Maastricht , the Netherlands . His team placed first and such an accolade helped him land a job as assistant chef at the elegant Hotel Méridien in OPorto . But, he wanted more.

With a Henry the Navigator-like curiosity*, Caseiro wanted to expand his knowledge of cooking and of ingredients and also take Portuguese cooking to other ports in different parts of the world. From 1995 to 1997, Caseiro worked as chef de cuisine at the Bela-Vista Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Macau , a former Portuguese colony in China. During his tenure, Caseiro traveled extensively throughout China and to other Asian countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines . He had the opportunity to discover and play with different flavors, ingredients and gently incorporate Asian touches into traditional Portuguese cuisine.

Upon returning to Portugal in 1998, Caseiro worked at the Casino da Póvoa , in Póvoa de Varzim (northwestern region) and held several consulting positions with small luxury hotels and inns. Until December 2005, Caseiro worked as executive chef at Hotel Flor de Sal, a small luxury hotel located in Viana do Castelo, 45 miles north of Oporto as executive chef.

After being home for a while, the itch to travel emerged again and once more Luís Caseiro set his sights on other ports – this time New York, where in January 2006, he joined Alfama as its executive chef.

Caseiro's goal is to share with New Yorkers and Americans alike his passion for cooking and his in-depth knowledge of Portuguese cuisine. His menu will be reflective of traditional Portuguese cuisine as well as fusion cooking. Under the heading “New Wave Portuguese,” Caseiro will demonstrate the centuries-old culinary exchanges and influences between Portugal and other cultures (Japan, Malaysia, China, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guiné Bissau, São Tomé & Príncipe, and India), and his menus will evolve and change with the seasons.

Ultimately, he hopes to welcome diners again and again, and to entice them to discover the culinary pleasures of Portuguese cuisine.

* Prince Henry the Navigator (Dom Henrique) was the son of King João of Portugal, born in 1394. He is most famous for the voyages of discovery that he organized and financed, which eventually led to the rounding of Africa and the establishment of sea routes to the Indies. A very devout man, he was Governor of the Order of Christ from 1420 until his death in 1460.

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