About Us

LaSalette Restaurant is the realization of Chef Manuel Azevedo’s dream to champion Portuguese cuisine throughout the United States and beyond. His dream was born at an early age when he would assist his mother, the restaurant’s namesake, prepare recipes from their former home in the Azores Islands. It has been more than a decade since LaSalette welcomed its first diners, and the LaSalette family continues to invite you to join them in their second decade of proudly sharing Chef Azevedo’s interpretation of modern Portuguese cuisine.

LaSalette’s seasonal menus reflect Chef Azevedo and his staff’s commitment to use distinctively Portuguese flavors to create contemporary dishes with the best local ingredients of the season. Chef Azevedo’s repertoire ranges from traditional Portuguese dishes with his own twists, such as his sopas do Espírito Santo, caldeirada, and pastéis de bacalhau to contemporary seasonal dishes given a Portuguese flair such as his Dungeness crab bisque with Madeira, presunto and mushroom-stuffed roasted pork loin, and duck breast roulade to alluring dishes inspired by Portugal’s expeditionary history such as his Goan mussels, cassava-crusted fried oysters, and Brazilian black bean stew. Many of LaSalette’s dishes arrive steaming hot out of the wood-fired oven and fill the dining room with the exotic aromas of authentic Portuguese cuisine. Hitting as many of the five taste sensations as possible along with "mouthfeel" excitement is a key goal for Chef Azevedo when constructing dishes, so LaSalette’s menus are replete with dishes that are as surprising as they are delicious. Balancing a multitude of flavors is Chef Azevedo’s specialty – and a hallmark of a genuine chef.

Everything about Chef Azevedo—his quiet demeanor, confidence to persevere, and intense focus on his craft—bespeaks the humility and hardworking nature intrinsic to the people of his Azorean homeland. Unlike many chefs and restaurateurs boasting formal culinary education and big city cooking experiences, Chef Azevedo is strictly home grown and self-made. At the unemployable age of fourteen, he finagled his way into a dishwasher’s position at a local restaurant. By sixteen, he was head cook of a rib joint. During the following years, Azevedo worked every position a restaurant offered him, from the front to the back of house.

In 1993, Azevedo earned his position as sous chef under an "old school" Swiss chef at a top restaurant in the area. For five years he learned the ins and outs of the trade at a high level, treating the restaurant as if it were his own. His self-styled culinary education continued with the study of basics such as food physics, history, and restaurant management in his spare time. His home was his test kitchen. When the opportunity came to open his own restaurant, Chef Azevedo followed his passion for Portuguese cuisine. Naming the restaurant after his mother, LaSalette, and selecting décor reminiscent of the old docks of Lisbon, Chef Azevedo served his first of many new Portuguese dishes.

Today, Cozinha Nova Portuguesa represents an evolution in Portuguese cuisine. Chef Azevedo remains passionate about sharing his love of Portuguese flavors and dishes through the LaSalette Restaurant and through his eponymous LaSalette Cookbook, the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to spread Cozinha Nova Portuguesa to foodies everywhere and promote the cause of Portuguese cuisine to as wide an audience as possible.

A Modern Signature for an Ancient Cuisine

Portuguese cuisine has a proud legacy dating back centuries. Even though the mainland of Portugal lies at the westernmost edge of Europe, its culinary influences not only come from the rural and piscatorial way of life that has dominated Portuguese society, but also from the country’s history as seafaring pioneers whose explorers traversed the globe and built a vast trading empire unlike any the world had ever seen. Lucrative spices formed the basis of this trading network, so it’s not surprising that these exotic and valuable seasonings also found their way into traditional Portuguese cookery.

During the 15th century onwards, Portuguese fleets travelled the world establishing trade routes and colonies from the Atlantic islands to Africa and the Far East. Each new discovery added to and changed the character of Portuguese food. Today, the cuisine of Portugal evokes a voyage around the world, with elements such as rice from the East, hot peppers from South America via Africa, rich spices from India, and cod from Newfoundland. Cozinha Nova Portuguesa follows in this very Portuguese tradition of adapting Portuguese cuisine to encompass new influences and ingredients while still appreciating classic Portuguese dishes, which are also a fixture of LaSalette’s menus throughout the seasons.