Benoît Sinthon

FRENCH CHEF Benoît Sinthon is unique in many ways, not least in that he is Madeira’s only Michelin starred chef. Receiving the accolade in 2009 really reinforced his team at Il Gallo d’Oro at the Cliff Bay Hotel on the outskirts of Funchal and they have been working hard to maintain standards and keep the star ever since, gaining a new pastry chef and sommelier along the way. ‘Every year we try to think about what we can do to get even better, we are always trying to improve,’ says Sinthon. ‘But the Michelin star is not the most important thing – the most important things are that the restaurant is full and that we are cooking at a high level and serving wonderful food.’

Sinthon’s passion for food began modestly, when he would visit the markets in Marseille with his Italian grandmother. ‘My grandmother always used to go to market on Saturday morning because she loved cooking. We used to go to the port, and I always remember the fish arriving and my grandmother explaining to us how she chose the best fish.’

In order to ensure that the food at Il Gallo d’Oro is of the highest possible quality, Sinthon continues to uselocally sourced ingredients whenever possible. About 90 per cent of the fruit and vegetables are local and around 60 per cent of the fish. This leads to a seasonally changing menu, built in collaboration with local suppliers, some of whom have quite small concerns.

Sinthon came to Madeira from the restaurant at the luxurious Chateau de Rochegude hotel in Provence, following the love of his life, Lara, who wanted to return home to her family. After some years of to-ing and fro-ing between Madeira and France, building up his career, they finally settled on the island in 1998, and Sinthon became the executive chef at Il Gallo d’Oro in 2004. There are three other restaurants at the hotel, in addition to Il Gallo d’Oro, and Sinthon is in charge of them all.