On a recent Saturday night, chef Nuno Mendes was working the dining room at Cozinha das Flores, his new restaurant, attached to the Largo, a new 18-room luxury hotel near the Douro River in Porto, Portugal. Mendes splits his time between Portugal and London, where he rose to fame in the kitchen of the Chiltern Firehouse, but he’s spending a lot of time in Portugal these days. It’s a homecoming of sorts. He came to the Porto project during the pandemic through its Danish designers, who have deep ties to the world of globe-trotting chefs. (They designed the original Noma.) “The pandemic was an opportunity to maybe re-invent ourselves a little bit,” says Mendes, “a chance for us to start over, in a way.” Behind the restaurant hides the Largo, a boutique hotel also designed by Space Copenhagen. “You go to certain hotels and you could be anywhere,” says Mendes. “Hopefully, this will be a breath of fresh air.” —Jay Cheshes