For the first time in eleven editions, the Sabores Imaginarius gastronomic project is challenging chefs and restaurants in Santa Maria da Feira to create the ‘Artist’s Menu’, a balanced meal with an international flavour, aimed at the artists who will be starring in the 24th edition of Imaginarius – International Street Theatre Festival, to be held between 22 and 25 May. At the same time, and as in previous editions, the organisation is continuing to challenge local restaurants to showcase creative, ethnic, sustainable and signature cuisine, aimed at the festival’s audience. Both initiatives are under the signature of Santa Maria da Feira – UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and are open to all restaurants in the Feira region.
The ‘Artist’s Menu’ is intended to highlight fresh, local and seasonal products and to ensure the nutritional needs of a working meal, adapted to the artists and their technical teams, with a focus on the lunch break. The menu will be supervised by a nutritionist and approved by the festival’s technical team. The proposal submission period runs until 14 February, followed by the validation phase until 15 March. For more information and clarifications, interested parties should email us to production@imaginarius.pt.
Since 2014, the Santa Maria da Feira City Council has been involving local restaurants in the spirit of the festival, promoting and leveraging the official Sabores Imaginarius restaurants and their gastronomic creations, through promotional campaigns on the Municipality’s different digital platforms and complementary supports, a project that will continue in this edition.
There are six admission criteria listed in the rules for participation in the Sabores Imaginarius call for the selection of official restaurants: creative, ethnic, sustainable and signature gastronomy concept; specific Imaginarius menus, with starter, main course and dessert; use of seasonal endogenous products; use of local producers; quality of products; presentation and creativity in plating.
When evaluating the proposals presented, the jury will value the use of elements from the gastronomic landscape of Santa Maria da Feira, namely the products, know-how, techniques, recipes and culinary/gastronomic aspects (40%), as well as the creativity of the proposal and its relationship with the theme of the festival (30%), the plating and aesthetic aspect (20%) and the history of participation or curriculum of the chef (10%).
All restaurants/chefs in the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira that score above 75 percentage points, of the value determined in the predefined evaluation criteria, will be selected and designated official.
The application period runs until 27 February and the results will be announced by 11 March, on the official Imaginarius festival website, at www.imaginarius.pt, and communicated to each of the participants.
For over a decade, the municipality of Feira and the Imaginarius festival have been investing in the creative potential of local gastronomy, but the designation Santa Maria da Feira as UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, awarded in 2021, reinforced the recognition and affirmation of a global and structured strategy to enhance the region’s gastronomic heritage.
For more information and clarifications about the Sabores Imaginarius project, interested parties should contact the Tourism Office of the Santa Maria da Feira City Council, through gab.turismo@cm-feira.pt, telephone 256 370 802 or mobile phones 967 211 247 and 964 563 642.
