History and Culture
Tradition, refinement and high gastronomy with a spectacular view of the All Saints Bay
Veleiro Restaurant stands out for its tradition of more than 50 years, offering a refined menu of international cuisine and an excellent wine list. All this with a privileged view of the All Saints Bay.
Located on the pier’s first floor of YCB – Yacht Club of Bahia, there were changes in the decoration that made the restaurant even more charming. It has a shade of blue, white and gray in contrast to wood pieces. Chef Fernando Cerqueira has been at the forefront of Veleiro cuisine for 3 years, always presenting a high standard gastronomy and excellent service.
The menu developed by Fernando takes a tour at the French, Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean and Bahian cuisines. With an international menu, of great regional influence, it has a bit of everything. For those who like noble meats, there are options like Prime Rib, Strip Steak and Ancho Steak. As seafood dishes, there are the pasta with lobster, the salt flower whiting, shrimp breaded with provolone and many other excellent options.
For starters, we suggest the steak tartare or the ceviche, which are very tasty. For the main dish, the Provencal Octopus, with a final touch of herbs olive oil made in the house. To finish, the dessert Trilogy is phenomenal: quindim, cocada with passion fruit and a brulée blancmange. The chef gives true importance to the region’s biome, highlighting the local ingredients in elaborate creations.
“I really value the client’s well-being. For loving what I do, I want to give pleasure through food, I want the person to leave here happy”, says the chef.
In addition to the daily operation, the restaurant promotes gastronomic experiences like the “Four-Hand Dinner”, where an outside chef is invited to cook with Veleiro chef Fernando Cerqueira. Always with varied themes, he has received among others the French Maxime Lebrun – a star owner of the celebrated Michelin Guide – besides Helena Fialho, Fernanda Possa, Geovane Carneiro from DOM, chef and restauranteur Roberto Ravioli – also successful in television with the “Toque do Ravioli” block in the “É de Casa” program on TV Globo – and the chef Elíbia Portela, presenter of Prato de Casa, a program that has been airing for decades on the Band Bahia screen.
The wine list is extensive and there is a beautiful wine cellar on site. The maître Victor Santos explains that Veleiro has approximately a thousand bottles. The list is made up of around 150 labels, bearing wines from the New World and Old World. It has Chilean, Argentine, Portuguese and national wines from the Rio Grande do Sul region, as well as very good wines from Bahia.
The drinks are something else
The drinks are on behalf of Seu Orlando, an icon of the house, as described by the chef himself: “… he has been in the house for more than 40 years, he is protected, the one who represents the restaurant and its tradition”, Fernando says with respect. If you are not an expert on the subject, don’t worry. Orlando has the gift of finding out which drink best suits your taste. Patient and soft-spoken, he explains what each drink takes, from classics to contemporaries.
Orlando Alves Viana has been responsible for the restaurant drinks for 45 years. He came close to the inauguration and is there until today. A story built together with Ramon Fernandes, the manager maître at that time, considered as a great master for Orlando (and recognized in the city). Of all the drinks, what he likes to make most is Dry Martini.
“There are people who come here to drink especially this drink and also the Blood Mary. They arrive saying: I was not going to drink, but I see you there, so please give me ‘my poison'”.
Orlando is discreet when talking about customers, with the wisdom of those who know that “what happens at the counter stays at the counter”. He says he doesn’t like to make caipiroska: “I do against my will”. He speaks between laughter and ends by saying: “but, according to many people, I make the best caipiroska in the city”. If you get curious, write down the times when this icon is running the counter: he stays from Tuesday to Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You won’t regret.
More about Chef Fernando Cerqueira
Chef Fernando Cerqueira is from Bahia, graduated in Gastronomy by the Faculty of Hotel Business, Gastronomy and Tourism Technology of São Paulo – HOTEC. Responsible for the menu, he uses in its elaboration the expertise acquired in 19 years of performance in São Paulo between the French restaurant Ici Bistrô and the Italian Tappo Tratoria and in the restaurants Pobre Juan and Mistura, on his return to Salvador. He identifies with the Mediterranean, French, Italian and regional cuisines and Argentinean cuts of meat.
Service
Veleiro Restaurant
Address: Yacht Club da Bahia – Av. Sete de Setembro, 3252 – Barra, Salvador – BA, 40130-001
Opening hours: Monday, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (lunch only). Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to midnight (last customer). Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Open to the public. Valet service is available.
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