The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Assessing Aviero
We awoke to rain this morning, quite a surprise actually since the weather report didn't call for any precipitation.
But no worries. We took our time with a leisurely breakfast, caught up on correspondence, read a little and by the crack
of noon the weather had mellowed to simply overcast. It seemed like time for a road trip!
I had seen some intriguing pictures of the town of Aveiro about an hour south of Porto and thought it might be worth a
look as a possible landing spot. It was worth a look. It is not a candidate for relocation.
Aveiro is near -- but not on -- the ocean, so they are known for their system of canals. The
action in the central area seems centered on the water with dozens of these small motorized boats giving rides to the
tourists. The town itself had some real old world charm so maybe the turn-off was the mass of tourists clogging up the
tiny sidewalks. Whatever the reason, the vibe wasn't there for us, so we found a [bad] restaurant, had a [bad] late lunch
and headed back to Porto. At least we can say we gave the place a chance.
Speaking of restaurants, it seems to me the choices are heavy at the low end of the food chain (snack bars and such),
rather thin at the upper end and virtually non-existent in the middle. I really wanted to find something pub-like with a
bit of atmosphere, a modest menu of mid-priced items and some atmosphere. I found places like that in Lisbon but saw
nothing comparable elsewhere. Is it an unserved segment in the market waiting to be filled? That thought scares me because
should we decide to re-locate here, I would be sorely tempted to create an eatery or two to address that void.
When a client tells me they want to open a restaurant, my usual advice is to lie down until the urge passes. Maybe I'd
better go lie down ...
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