Our day starts with a tour of the cork factory. Portugal is the largest producer of cork in the world.
After being harvested, the cork is stacked and left to dry in the sun for a couple of months.
It is then brought in and sorted and cut to some standard sizes.
It can even be cut thin and attached to cloth to make purses, etc.
Our guide David was basically a stand-up comedian with a very dry sense of humor. Here he is
explaining how his workers are very short and can only reach this high on the tree.
Inside, pallets of cork are put in this boiling vat to soften them up for working.
This worker is using his high-tech "knife" to cut pieces to size and evaluate the quality.
David explaining the various quality features.
A wall showing how they are used for corks, gaskets, and other products.
Now walking around in Lisbon.
Luciano says it is only "ten more minutes" to our destination. He lied.
Luciano's friend stops by and drops off Luciano's dog to accompany us.
One of many memorials in the city.
Walking down the Avenida de Liberdade, their Champs-Elysees.
Luciano and his spoiled little puppy.
At the end of the street is the Liberdade Square.
This train station is in Manueline Architecture, a Portugal-specific style.
The streets are lined in granite and basalt laid in various patterns.
Down this street you can see the arch with a statue through it, on the river.
This is the Santa Justa lift, and elevator between the upper and lower cities.
We walk ten more minutes about 3-4 times, and we're getting warm in more ways than one.
This is the Bel Forno restaurant we were looking for, but it didn't suit what Kimberly and Wade wanted.
They left the group and walked down the street and split a pizza, saving room for their special dinner.
Here we are heading out later to our special dinner.
2Monkeys is a Michelin-starred restaurant where everyone is seated at this U-shaped bar.
We are on the very end, so we are close to all the prep.
The two monkeys are in the background, behind the steamer and the stock pot.
Our menu for the evening.
Tuna with Oscietra caviar.
They do all the plating right in front of each group.
The finished product with chayote and flowers on top.
Mackerel with apple, celery, Baeri caviar. Best mackerel you could ever eat.
Our bread course. The little peanuts are different flavors of butter: onion, seaweed, and anchovy.
The foie gras course: with eel and fig, and the butteriest brioche crunch you could imagine.
Hake with fava bean and garlic. You cannot really see the fish...
...so I cut this one open to see the care that goes into the plating.
Here is the scarlet shrimp. In the foreground is the prep from the actual cook, with the shrimps,
baby carrots, and mushrooms.
These are then plated into this final product.
Part one of the lobster course, with just the claws in a shell with Baeri caviar.
The final assembly of the first part of the lobster course.
The second part of the lobster course has the body with curry and sweet potato.
The A5 Wagyu course with papaya, mustard, and buckwheat
The deer (venison) course with macadamia nut puree, and topped with grated truffle.
Our sommelier Sergio keeping us filled up.
First dessert: waffle with pumpkin ice cream over walnuts and seeds.
Second dessert: lemon-flavored sweet rice, with a cinnamon-flavored tuille.
The final product with the tuille.
Petit fours with a variety of flavors.
