It is always a pleasure to discover a new restaurant in an old city. So, when viticulturist António Magalhães recommended Matriarca, we decided to give it a try. The restaurant opened in September 2025 in Porto’s Praça de Carlos Alberto, not far from the celebrated Lello bookstore.

Owned by the Symington family, Matriarca takes its name from Beatriz Leitão de Carvalhosa Atkinson, the Luso-British matriarch whose marriage to Andrew James Symington in 1891 helped establish the family’s enduring place in the Port wine trade. Remembered for the warmth and generosity of her hospitality, Beatriz inspired not only the restaurant’s name but also its convivial spirit.

Matriarca occupies a beautifully restored three-storey building, each floor with a character of its own. On the ground floor, a lively wine bar serves oysters and petiscos, Portugal’s delicious answer to tapas. One flight above is the elegant dining room, where attentive service complements carefully prepared food. The top floor is reserved for private gatherings.

Our sommelier, Tina, was born in Georgia, widely regarded as the birthplace of wine. After studying enology in Portugal, she decided to make the country her home. Portuguese may be her second language, but she speaks about Portuguese wine with remarkable fluency. We entrusted the pairings to her, and it proved an excellent decision.

The meal began, as so many memorable meals do in Portugal, with good bread, fragrant olive oil, and salted butter. Port tonics soon arrived, garnished with curls of lemon peel and sprigs of mint, giving the evening a festive air.

Our first course was a striking ajo blanco, served with garlic chantilly, grapes, and Douro almonds. It was accompanied by Contacto Loureiro, an exuberant Vinho Verde made from the Loureiro grape in a collaboration between Anselmo Mendes, one of the region’s most celebrated winemakers, and the Symington family.

Next came delicate ribbons of steamed squid with peas, accompanied by Casa de Rodas Alvarinho 2023. Vibrant and precise, the wine is another result of the partnership between Anselmo Mendes and the Symingtons.

The spinach agnolotti with goat cheese and hazelnuts was as pleasing to the eye as it was delightful on the palate. Pequeno Dilema, an elegant Douro white made from grapes grown at an altitude of 520 metres in the Vale do Pinhão, proved an inspired match.

The star of the meal was the beef Wellington, a dish long cherished by Porto’s British families. Beneath its crisp, golden puff pastry lay perfectly cooked medium-rare beef. Its richness found an ideal companion in Quinta do Ataíde Vinha do Arco, a poised and harmonious Douro red.

Dessert brought together green apple and basil with lemon curd and white chocolate. It was served with a stunning Warre’s 10-Year-Old White Port, whose freshness and complexity brought the evening to a graceful and thoroughly satisfying close.

Matriarca is the kind of restaurant that gives an old city something new to celebrate.

Matriarca is located at Praça de Carlos Alberto 98, 4050-310 Porto. Click here to visit its website.