William Restaurant

The one Michelin-star restaurant William, retained in February 2024, is home to Chef José Diogo's cooking. Its menus pay homage not just to the classic charm of this iconic hotel but more particularly to the natural beauty of Madeira’s unique island setting. 

With easy access to the finest array of rich and exceptional local produce and ingredients, José combines his creativity with an inventive use of cooking methods honed throughout his career and travels, to present dishes that embody the very essence of Madeiran and Portuguese cuisine.

Though rarely seen on fine dining menus, he champions local ingredients such as chícharo, a local lupin bean variety, or brigalhó, a tuber from the yam family abundant in Curral das Freiras just north of Funchal. He incorporates the fresh, soft cheese from the high plateau of Santo Da Serra in the island’s east and infuses his sweet and savoury creations with distinct flavours from the island’s diverse selection of fruit, including tropical passion fruit, custard apple and Surinam cherry.