Award-Winning Portuguese Chef Ana Magalhães Leads the Culinary Vision at Tabrah, Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is proud to spotlight Chef Ana Magalhães, the award-winning Portuguese Chef de Cuisine now shaping Tabrah, one of the Reserve’s most distinctive dining destinations on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

In 2022, Chef Ana became the first woman in more than two decades to win Chefe do Ano (Chef of the Year), Portugal’s most prestigious culinary competition. With over six years in Michelin-starred kitchens, she cooks to a clear philosophy: fire, seasonal ingredients, and a sustainable, zero-waste approach, with a passion for fermentation and traditional preservation that honors both heritage and innovation.

“Cooking, for me, begins with respect, for the ingredient, for the season, and for the people who grew or caught it,” said Chef Ana Magalhães. “At Nujuma, surrounded by the Red Sea and its produce, I have a canvas that matches the way I’ve always wanted to cook.”

At Tabrah, that philosophy runs through a newly launched menu: wood-fired scarlet prawns, charred seabass and lacto-fermented preparations alongside locally sourced Red Sea catch, with Portuguese touchstones like caldeirada and piri-piri reimagined for the Reserve.

Her arrival also marks the debut of From Port to Port, Tabrah’s newest Chef’s Table experience, a tasting menu inspired by the historic maritime routes linking Asia, Africa, Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. Each course is a different port: guests depart Belawan (Asia) and Cape Town (Africa), journey through Aden (Yemen) and Umluj on Saudi Arabia’s own Red Sea coast, cross at Alexandria (Egypt), and arrive, fittingly, at Lisbon, the port Chef Ana calls home.