The old olive oil pressing room gave way to the restaurant it is today. The colors, floors, the roof rafters, the olive oil presses, and all that remained since the abandonment of the building has been kept and restored, 20 years on.
Sem-Fim is in this room, which is adjoining to the Casa das Tulhas (olive bins). Sem-Fim is a machine, a large screw that transported the olives from the bins, where they were cleaned, to a crusher. Here they were ground and mashed, resulting in a paste that was scattered on the Mouriscas. Through magic and steam, they were pressed, and from the other side the olive oil was decanted, draining into large vats of boiling water. The first oil, the most virgin of all, was tasted with a piece of bread that was toasted in the salamander. The salamanders boiled the water and provided heat in the winter months. What was left of this process either went to “Hell” or to the “Thief”, as there was always some spillage to take home.
The shale tables, Gil’s paintings and lamps, the presses which have kept the memories of walks and travels, and the colored chairs, the space where the soul still glows and the smell of olive oil still lingers, once healed and now marinates, is now a room of well-being and good food. The senses are in full swing celebrating the smells of olive oil and listening to the music from the world and the countryside.
And it is the Olive Oil, the lord of the mill, which is served on the codfish with garlic, in the migas of tomato, of spinach and of asparagus, on the Sem-Fim salads, in the Alentejana soups, on the sautéed vegetables, on the lamb and on the bread. SF flavors that never end and satisfy your eyes, stomach and soul in every bite you take. The glory of the sweets is in the making of Gloria’s hands – the mousse, the rice pudding, the ice cream drizzled with hot chocolate, and all the others.
The ephemeral simple elements which were left here from another time have been added to todays industrial atmosphere. The journeys of Winter through to Spring, develop and satisfy the senses of whoever arrives here, who stays and returns, with love, with family and friends, at the end of the day or to celebrate at night – Sem-Fim is infinite. It is our wish to do better than your imagination and bring it to life, because being here in the Alentejo is worth it.