As part of its head-to-toe design overhaul - which included the addition of 50 rooms and suites earlier this year - hotel Pestana Vintage Porto just unveiled a marquee restaurant: Rib Beef & Wine, a stylish steakhouse that is hoping to lure more locals to the Ribeira, the riverfront neighbourhood of touristy eateries and the embarkation point for many of the Douro River cruises.
To do that, Rib, which is housed on the ground floor of one of the centuries-old homes that Pestana Vintage occupies, foregoes typical Portuguese visual flourishes in favour of a contemporary decor scheme dreamed up by Cristina Matos, a Lisbon-based designer whose portfolio includes Lx Boutique Hotel and Pestana Alvor South Beach in the Algarve. Eyes are immediately drawn to the graphic palm tree wallpaper that covers most of the restaurant. Surprisingly, it complements the contrasting textures found throughout such as the bright blue chairs, the black-and-white plaid carpeting in the private dining area and the studded leather panels on the bar.
Most of the furnishings are auction-sourced vintage and then restored specifically for the project, like the Midcentury Modern chairs in the private dining room that were reupholstered in tweed. They orbit around a custom-made table on which to enjoy award-winning Portuguese chef Rui Martins’ meaty dishes such as a 14-month-old smoked Cecina and Black Angus Tomahawk steak.
ADDRESS
Praça da Ribeira 1
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
Can design make you healthier? Inside the architecture of wellnessAs wellness-focused Gen Z enters the marketplace, buildings are no longer being viewed as merely containers for living and working – they're environments that influence physical and mental wellbeing. How can we create spaces that support health and humanity?
-
Les Domaines de Chabran redefines the Provençal summer houseArchitect Alain Meylan and interior designer Liliana Atilova bring contemporary finesse to centuries-old country houses in southern France. Discover their latest
-
Two new villas extend Christian Louboutin’s exuberant Portuguese hotelA pink, kasbah-inspired residence and a whitewashed boathouse join the French shoe designer’s Vermelho Hotel in Melides, Alentejo
-
Do luxury hotels need a farmer-in-residence?From Ibiza to Indonesia, hospitality brands are cultivating a new travel experience, where wellness begins in the soil and ends at the table
-
Wallpaper* checks into Quinta do Pinheiro, an easy-breezy farmhouse in the AlgarveIn this private five-casa quinta by the Ria Formosa, it’s all about blending rustic charm with modern comfort
-
Wallpaper* checks in at MACAM Hotel: a night at the museumPortugal’s first hotel-museum is home to 600 pieces of modern and contemporary art and 64 rooms for the ultimate artistic immersion
-
Sun-soaked European destinations to visit in springDreaming of Florentine palazzos and Greek islands now that the weather is starting to turn? Check into one of these beautiful European hotels and holiday homes
-
The world's most heavenly destinations for astrotourism in 2025We're in for a big year for celestial events. These are the world's best hotels to see the cosmos as you've never seen it before
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: meet the travel winners transcending destinationsDiscover the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 travel winners – the year’s places to stay, dine, drink and join – and watch our video to find out why they won
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
