Our first date was on May 4th 2001 and consisted of dinner at Perkins and a visit to a local business known for poles and scantily clad employees since neither of us had ever been to one of said establishments. This year we celebrated our 23rd year as a couple with a dinner date in Faro.

Faro is the capital of the Algarve and a short train ride away (just over 10 minutes and about €1.20 each way). The city is slightly larger than Olhão and we have enjoyed quite a few excursions there. Unlike the amazing street art of Olhão, Faro is speckled with uninspired tags and graffiti. Traveling to the cities west of Olhão on the coast gives a glimpse of what our city’s future may hold, resort towns crammed with vacationers on beach holiday.

The city covers quite a large area. In addition to the historic and newer (more tourist focused) sections of town it extends out to the regional airport, a festival grounds, and a very popular beach. The beach itself is almost 10 kilometers from town making it comparably difficult for residents to access, exchanging the need for a ferry or water taxi in Olhão for a bus or car in Faro. The city has a very active motorcycle club and hosts one of the largest annual motorcycle rallies in Europe.

The walk to our date night restaurant was about 1 kilometer and brought us through parts of town we hadn’t seen before. The calçada stonework was eye catching and even the basic sidewalks had an appealing look since they were covered in vibrant purple jacaranda flowers. It was impossible not to be in a good mood as we lazily strolled to our destination.

We haven’t talked about the stork nests which are protected features found throughout the area. You can frequently spy massive nests built atop tall buildings, poles, or towers. The birds make an unnerving sound that feels like it would be more appropriate emanating from a monster on Stranger Things. We passed a church that had three large nests on display.

Our train arrived early for our 8:00 p.m. reservation so our first stop was a wine bar right next door to the restaurant. The art for the two businesses was colorful and provocative.

We started the night off with a glass of wine at Epicur. The bar had a very modern and hip interior and featured over 400 wines, it wouldn’t feel out of place in Portland or any other larger US city. ^{_{I am so old that I considered looking up a modern substitute for the word “hip” and decided I probably wouldn’t understand my own blog if I started doing that.}}

We reminisced about our tumultuous first year together and our journey to get where we are today. It was fun to compare some things, like how in 2001 we paid $900 in rent (which would be about $1,600 today!) at our first house together in Medford and how currently we pay only €750 in Olhão. The conversation twisted and turned through parts of our lives together and was delightful; and so was the red wine!

Our destination was COM Raw Food Club, a restaurant hidden (speak-easy style) behind a secret entrance from within Epicur. Both the wine bar and the restaurant are owned by a chef and sommelier duo who have traveled the world and returned home to Faro with international inspiration. Upon entering there is a bit of sensory overload as the dining room is bathed in fluorescent pinkish purple light. We ordered a fancy bottle of champagne to enjoy during the meal and took in the glowing ambiance.

The only other guests for the night were two Brits who were celebrating a birthday and in town to visit their Quinta (a large estate) in São Brás de Alportel as it goes through a multi year renovation. They were nice, but monopolized the conversation. We learned about: their upper class British lifestyle in Wimbledon, their travels to New York where they (sometimes) enjoy odd fusion restaurants, how there are way more Americans in Portugal now, various activities and lifestyles of their privileged children, and how one of them has been traveling to Portugal for ages. When we tried to nudge the conversation back around to our experiences in Portugal, they described in detail their decision making process about whether they should travel to the country one week per month or two weeks every two months. Eventually they asked how we were finding the Portuguese language and we replied that we were finishing year 2/B Level classes. We obviously answered incorrectly because the conversation ended abruptly. We were delighted since we hadn’t really signed up for a double date anyway.

Our chef Jorge introduced himself and “Sarah” – the A.I. video presenter for the evening. ?. The video of Sarah played on a side wall and was goofy and more than a bit creepy. “Sarah” appeared to be a woman pushing up against a sheet and undulating in an unrealistic manner. At some point it appeared that she had at least three hands, around the same time she warned us that the sommelier from the wine bar takes his flirting a bit too far and any women dining there tonight should be on guard.

For the rest of the night video clips played on repeat during each course, and Jorge referenced his friends or business associates who filmed some of the segments. Images of news clips from the United States flickered across the screen, followed by ghastly forms that would definitely fit into a Korean horror or David Lynch film, and an ongoing clip of an adorable crab being chased by a giant fork. It was intense, slightly bizarre and paired with non memorable trance music played just a little too loudly (we definitely started to feel a bit old), not to mention the intense pinkness, we weren’t sure where this dining adventure was headed.

Then, the first course came out. Oysters with a delectable sauce. Each course was served on sharing plates, one plate per couple. We had our own plate too, which wasn’t changed throughout the night, so sauces from different courses mixed throughout the experience. The sharing plates were consistently eye catching pieces of pottery. Food-wise the night got off on a great foot.

All the courses were raw or slightly heated, and for the most part Jorge prepared them tableside. Jorge was a wonderful host explaining each dish and how he has found inspiration during his travels from Seychelles to Rome to Japan.

Although the main ingredients including shrimp, tuna, amberjack, and beef were the obvious stars of the show, the experience was elevated by Jorge’s amazing combination of textures. Each bite was a pleasant adventure as taste and touch combined in our mouths.

The neon pink pictures don’t do justice to the experience, and they are also all out of focus as my camera couldn’t figure out what to do (the iPhone A.I. probably thought we were in a reactor that was having a critical meltdown – we also don’t have photos of us in this unflattering light, our teeth looked frighteningly brown).

Jorge often carved out the servings from lovely cuts of fish and then quickly transformed that basic ingredient into a piece of art. He then usually instructed us to eat that art in 1 – 3 bites, mouth size be damned.

Overall it was a delightful meal, despite the neon ambiance. The 7 course tasting menu was €70 and COM had neon infused elements of two of our favorite fancy restaurants back in Ashland, Oregon: MÄS and NAMA. The seafood forward and raw or barely cooked ingredients are similar to what would be on offer at NAMA, but they are prepared at a counter setting in an elevated tasting menu presentation like at MÄS. After dinner we went back to Epicur and enjoyed after dinner drinks and coffees. We lingered well past the last train to Olhão and had to splurge on an Uber to get home (€9) to our furry babies.