Café Santiago De Praça: A Unique Sound for a Unique Venue

Seven white coaxial Genelec 8351s provide a unique audio-visual experience within Porto’s newly opened Café Santiago da Praça, where visitors enjoy the city’s signature dish.

Only those who know Porto, birthplace of some of Portugal’s most renowned wines, will have had the opportunity of tasting the city’s signature dish: the Francesinha, a sandwich bathed in melted cheese, replete with a variety of meats, egg and a thick, spicy sauce that has proven popular for generations.

Of all the restaurants serving Francesinha, the Santiago da Praça Café has achieved perfection in that all-important sauce, thanks to the deft hand of Filipe Pereira. Founded by Filipe and his brother, Rui Pereira, the new restaurant has fast become a must-visit destination in the city on the Douro river. While the venue’s exterior retains the original building’s façade, visitors enter to discover an innovative and thoroughly modern dining experience across two floors.

The Pereira brothers were determined that everything about the Santiago da Praça Café should be unique, from the star sauce to the sound. Accordingly, the audio portion of the project was led by José Luis Freitas, who brought his knowledge and experience to bear alongside Luis Lopes of Power Focus, and Genelec’s distributor in Portugal, Garrett. Now ensuring perfect audio reproduction and coverage throughout the venue are Genelec 8351 enclosures.

The Genelec 8351s were selected for the restaurant after the Pereira brothers experienced the three-way monitors in Garrett's dedicated demonstration facility, and the decision has already proven a success: alongside serving countless Francesinhas, the restaurant has become as renowned for its remarkable atmosphere as its incredible food.

In the group photo, from left to right: Rui Pereira, Luis Lopes, Filipe Pereira, José Luis Freitas, Raúl Fernandes.

Genelec is distributed in Portugal by Garrett Audiovisuais: www.garrett.pt