Lust for Lisbon

Is it my imagination or is everyone talking about Lisbon these days? It seems that just overnight that this Portuguese capital is the one destination that is suddenly on everyone’s travel list. In fact, Lisbon was voted “best city destination” by TRAVELBOOK in  2022 partly based on sustainability, cleanliness and safety beating out such heavyweights as New York City, Barcelona, Singapore and Dubai. A quick tour through some of the trends driving this surging popularity will surely pique your interest as well.

TREND 1: All of Lisbon under one roof!

  One of the first stops during any visit to Lisbon must include the Time Out Market. It is located in the historic Mercado da Ribeira just opposite the city’s main transportation hub in the district of Cais do Sodré. With Time Out being the go-to travel guide for many cities, it was thought that their local experts could curate the city’s best chefs to operate food kiosks under one roof bringing the fine dining of some of the city’s best-known names to congregate in a casual atmosphere. And they did just that!  Here 26 restaurants, 8 bars and 12 shops (for wines, canned seafood, etc.) are spread over 32,000 square feet (2972 square meters) within a former wholesale market building that still shares part of its roof with farmers’ market stalls, florists, butchers and fish mongers. One of the joys of Time Out Market are the people one meets sitting across the long communal tables (it seats 500 inside and 250 on outdoor terraces) all with the same common cause: enjoying exceptional local food and drink.

 If you seek an experience with a little edgier feel to it, then dial up an Uber and head to LX Factory in the city’s Alcântara district. Here you will find a potpourri of factory buildings dating from the 1840’s offering a community of over 50 businesses such as microbreweries, restaurants, craft stalls, cafes, artist studios, books stores and art galleries. For example, you could check out Lisbon Crooks a surf shop where “we surf for wine” or take an appointment with The Therapist where you can find a cure with Ayurveda treatments along with a healthy meal. Whatever the time of day or night there is a creative energy pulsating here along with a party atmosphere spread over 247,000 square feet (23,000 square meters). Once again, the idea here is: if you assemble enough like-minded enterprises under one roof, they 

TREND 2: Up on the rooftops!

   Lisbon is known as “the city with seven hills”. On each of these hills sits a lookout called “miradouros’’ and as daylight begins to fade waves of people are seen making a pilgrimage to these vantage points to watch the spectacular sunset. With over 300 days of sunshine, this is practically a daily occurance.  Some worshippers will be carrying their own wine and cheeses to be enjoyed while the glorious colors fill the skyline while others will head to one of the city’s many rooftop bars and restaurants instead. 

    One of the most popular of these rooftop vantage points is Javá which sits atop of the renovated art deco “8 Building” in Cais do Sodré with a sweeping, panoramic view of the Tagus River, the church of São Paulo and the Santa Catarina neighbourhood. Javá has an expansive outdoor terrace within tropical foliage and features a Mediterranean-forward menu of grilled meats and seafood.

Park Bar is another popular rooftop spot albeit one that is a little more intimidating to access as it is located on the 6th floor of a parking garage (in the Bairro Alto district). However, once you brave the tiny elevator through floors of parked cars you are treated to an urban-jungle oasis. This feels like the unlikeliness of settings but rewards with views that include the 25 de Abril Bridge. Once the sun goes down, the tunes go up and burgers are the go-to snack of sustenance here.

If venturing up parking garages does not sound appealing another more civilized option, still in Bairro Alto, is the rooftop terrace at the Bairro Alto Hotel. With terraces on the 5th (BARH) and 6th floors (Rooftop) this boutique hotel has the view, the mixology and the menu to satisfy even the most discerning sunset seeker.  

 Like its name, the next level up is Sky Bar Lisboa by SEEN on the 9th floor of Tivoli Avenida Liberdade, towering above the Liberdade district (think of it as the Champs-Élysées boulevard of Lisbon). Nothing tops Sky Bar for its unique perspective this time featuring Castelo de São Jorge in the distance or the twinkling stars late into the evening.

TREND 3: Simply fabulous style! 

  Spanish hotel and restaurant designer, Lázaro Rosa-Violán, has led a design inquisition into this city which has catapulted the city’s stylish reputation into the upper echelon’s of the best of what Europe has to offer. The hospitality explosion was really first felt here in 2017 with an influx of foreign capital coinciding with the tourism board’s international marketing push. In effect, restaurant entrepreneurs were given a blank canvas and, at the behest of Amorium Luxury (a hospitality and fashion group), Rosa-Violán was able to import his dazzling swatches and inventive interior design to create his own masterpieces.

  His first conquest was the stunning restaurant JeNCQuoi Avenidia. Walking into the main restaurant you will be first struck by a large skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the midst of the dining room. Meander down to the Deli-Bar on the lower floor, you would swear you have accidentally stumbled into a Parisian brasserie by way of a staircase. Go to relieve yourself in the establishment’s washrooms, suddenly you are experiencing space travel complete with flashing black lights and simulated space craft. 

 Tucked away a few doors away is an Instagramer’s dream come true, the tea room Ladurée. Here porcelain tea cups meet a rainbow of macrons served on dainty tables. Quite magical, actually.

  However, Rosa-Violán’s piece-de-la-resistance is Rocco in the Chiado district of Lisbon. Here he has featured the flamboyant flair of art nouveau to create an ambiance that could boldly be declared as the most stunning bar and restaurant in all of Lisbon! A rococo-influenced bar anchors the location but also feeds into an elegant dining room on the lower level with a Palm Springs-themed raw bar on the upper level. 

  Also on Lisbon’s style menu (though executed by a different interior designer, Catarina Cabral) is Palácio Chiado which was once a historic palace (with hedonistic roots dating back to 1726). It now is a multi-level dining and nightclub establishment linked by a grandiose staircase suitable for visiting royalty. One of the dining rooms opens onto a glorious stained-glass dome featuring a suspended golden lion with angel wings. 

TREND 4: Chef-driven restaurant empires

  Many foodies will already be familiar with two of Lisbon’s Michelin-starred chefs, José Avillez and Henrique Sá Pessoa, thanks to American television shows such as Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations or Phil Rosenthal’s Somebody Feed Phil. With the popularity of Lisbon as a city destination, visitors are drawn to seek out the best tables available. However, with the burgeoning reservation list for these seats, opportunity presented itself to these chefs, and their financial backers, to feed this demand through expansion.

 Chef José Avillez has been one of these culinary bright lights whom has been able to thoughtfully expand with installations that remain true to his Lisbon roots. Starting with Belcanto, Avillez has since extended his footprint (and seats) to include the Bairro do Avillez, Mini-Bar, Pizzaria Lisbon and Cantinho do Avillez. With such rapid expansion over a relatively short period of time, one might be concerned about the erosion of quality and attention to the cuisine. Remarkably, Avillez’s restaurants have not suffered this one iota and dinners can enjoy consistency and ambiance from one location to another each with varying price points appealing to the full range of dining budgets.

  Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa took a more circuitous route to finding his stride back in Lisbon starting with his culinary education at the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts in the city of Pittsburgh, United States. His professional career started in London, followed by a stint to Australia before returning to Portugal. Back in Lisbon, Sá Pessoa eventually enjoyed amazing success with his two-starred, forty-four seat Alma in Chiado. He has since built on his culinary appeal to expand to Tapisco (in Alcântara), the Henrique Sá Pessoa kiosk in the Time Out Market or venture into his “R+D laboratory” Atelier where guests may have a bucket-list worthy “personal gastronomic experience” with dishes that are tried and tested prior to their advancement to the other establishments (or not).

 While not a chef himself, Rui Sanches, is a restaurant builder tour-de-force. Sanches emerged from university (with a degree in management) noticing that Lisbon lacked healthy eating options. Recognizing this as an opportunity he went on to found Vitaminas, a chain of fast casual healthy eats and juices. He has since gone on to found Plateform, a hospitality juggernaut that currently boasts over 2400 employees, 149 restaurants and 24 gastronomic brands. Some of these brands include his partnership with the aforementioned Sá Pessoa but include other unique destinations such as Castro (for the city’s best pastéis de nata) to Honest Greens (the name says it all) as well as well as one the newest entries, Pica-Pau for the consummate Portuguese cuisine experience under chef Luis Gaspar (whom Sanches has also partnered with at Sala de Corte, the city’s preeminent steakhouse).  

TREND 5: Brunch, brunch and more brunch!

In a city where the influx of tourists seems to overtake the indigenous population at times, there is an abundance of potential diners able to enjoy leisurely brunches on any day of the week. Barbara Pinto and Bernardo Mesquita are the proprietors behind the collection of popular brunch spots Amelia, Nicolau, Basilio and Olivia. Customers are welcomed into each location with a regal portrait of a French poodle. An extensive menu includes brunch favorites such as acai bowls, French toast, pancakes, avocado toast, and tapiocas. 

Other entries into this space include the Dear Breakfast (with three locations) as well as Zenith and Balthazar’s.

TEND 6: Secret stars

As you navigate Lisbon’s endless winding avenues and alleys, it is inevitable that you will come across a repetitive set of graffiti that simply reads “Who the Fuck is Henry?” The renegade artwork is so pervasive that one’s curiosity eventually gets the best of them. I mean, just who the f#ck is Henry, after all? It turns out, the team behind this graffiti is an art collective whose rogue messaging style emanated from the throes of COVID. Their mystique has grown to the point where they now have a website (with swag on offer) and host pop-up dinners at secret locations. At these clandestine gatherings, guests can expect dimly lit, informal dinners attended by the curious seated at long tables intended to encourage a dialogue amongst strangers. “So, are you a spray-painter, too?”

 While much more elegant, The Red Frog has that speakeasy vibe that also captured the attention of the adventurous. While mastering the element of intrigue, locating the Red Frog, which is a tiny bar of handcrafted cocktails and plush velvet surroundings, patrons must be “in the know” to first locate it (hint: it’s in the same venue as the Monkey Mash in Liberdade). 

 Finally, Lisbon’s famous “Pink Street” (rua Nova do Carvalho) used to be the city’s notorious “red light” district.  Since 2013, Pink Street has experienced a rebirth as party-central in Cais do Sodré (which was named one of the “coolest neighborhoods on the world” by a recent Time Out Index). Here night clubs such as Roterdão Club or Pensão Amor are jumping until the sun rises while restaurants such as Sol e Pesca (canned sardines and beer) are now springing up all the time. Protected overhead by a canopy of brightly colored umbrellas, Pink Street never disappoints in its energy level and variety of entertainment with patrons often spilling into the street.

The city of Lisbon is just now catching its wave. Catch it while you can. 

Will surf for wine.

A.J.Twist is a Montreal-based travel writer and photographer.

Ajtwist.net