Adega on Alum Rock Avenue brings Portugal's salt cod tradition, codified during the Age of Discovery from the 1400s onward, to San Jose in preparations that change with the tasting menu but always anchor the kitchen.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Bacalhau, dried and salted codfish, has been the defining protein of Portuguese cuisine since the 15th-century Age of Discovery, when Portuguese sailors needed non-perishable protein for voyages to Brazil, Africa and India. Today Portugal claims over 365 bacalhau preparations, one for every day of the year. San Jose has a long Portuguese community history, rooted in the Azorean immigration waves of the 1950s to 1970s when dairy workers and fishermen settled in the South Bay. Adega's chefs David Costa and Jessica Carreira brought the ingredient to the fine-dining level when the restaurant earned its Michelin star.
Common allergens: Fish
Tip from the editors. Bacalhau requires true desalting over 48 hours: taste a flake after 24 hours and swap the water if still too salty. Under-desalted cod ruins the dish.
Adega is San Jose's sole Michelin-starred restaurant, where chefs craft a seasonal Portuguese tasting menu paired with 500+ Iberian wines in Alum Rock.
Order: Winter multi-course tasting menu with Portuguese wine pairing ($159 per person)
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