A Unique Dining Experience in Lisbon
Receiving a postcard feels sentimental and novel. These days, with Instagram and FaceTime, there seems to be no need to document far-flung adventures for friends and family. Who can be bothered with the painstaking quest to locate a stamp in foreign lands, anyway? And when it would arrive would be anyone’s guess. Delivery is much swifter at Lisbon’s famed Belcanto, where the postman masquerades as a white-gloved waiter.
“To start your Lisbon experience,” says my server Nelson, smiling as he places the palm-sized memento into a place card holder. Staring back at me is a watercolour illustration of the olive-green restaurant door I walked through just moments ago. More than a charming welcome, the postcards, designed by in-house sommelier Rostyslav Fedotov, are a creative way to present Belcanto’s nine-course tasting menu. “Each postcard will feature a design that complements the dish itself,” Nelson continues. “On the back are some words that help us understand what the chef had in his mind when he created these dishes.”
The chef in question is José Avillez. In 2012, Portugal’s culinary visionary transformed a former men’s club in the heart of the vibrant Chiado district, reimagining the historical space as Belcanto. The 45-seat restaurant features stone and brick vaulted ceilings, modern chandeliers, wooden floors, and windows that drench the dining room with sunlight. Its surroundings – a blend of old and new – aptly reflect Avillez’s take on contemporary Portuguese cuisine.
Belcanto is the capital’s first two-Michelin-starred restaurant. Adding to its prestige, it currently ranks 42nd on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The distinct, gastronomic journey at Belcanto is guided by Avillez’s childhood memories of family cooking traditions, seasons, Portugal’s diverse landscapes, and the Atlantic Ocean. With each course, he applies artistic techniques to locally revered ingredients.
“The idea of the chef is to take the role of the painter, and it will be displayed this afternoon through multiple designs,” Nelson monologues. “The white tablecloth will be the canvas.”
The first masterstroke, a tiered stand that looks like a spacecraft from Star Wars, lands on my table. Its delicate gold legs hold four oval plates, upon which snacks in a bold palette of black, green, red and yellow are presented. A gold sphere of partridge escabeche and foie gras mimics foil-wrapped chocolate. In one bite of crunchy seaweed, caviar and a mix of crustaceans, I voyage the Atlantic.
Also found along the Portuguese and Spanish coasts is the sought-after scarlet shrimp. An outdoor pastime is reinvented in a playful plating of the plump prawn: its grilled flesh is topped with fiery red pepper sauce and swathed in smoked rice ashes and intertwining twigs of blackened tempura to resemble a campfire.
Avillez’s innovative approach spreads like wildfire next door at sister restaurant, Encanto. Opened in 2022, this haute-vegetarian, dinner-only eatery received its first Michelin star before it had even been open a year. Chef Diogo Formiga is spearheading Avillez’s root-friendly revolution here, incorporating sustainable practices such as zero waste and supporting local farmers. Collective efforts have reaped rewards for the plant-based dining room – the restaurant has been awarded a Green Star, while Formiga has one knife from The Best Chef Awards 2025, which recognises culinary excellence.
Like its feted neighbour, Encanto guides curious herbivores through Portugal’s landscapes in 12 “moments” presented as edible art. A vibrant concoction of chestnut purée, wild mushrooms, green strawberries and ponzu sauce is served in a hollowed apple. Under the apple’s lid, a gelatine of housemade apple kombucha.
Speaking of drinks, Encanto offers biodynamic wines, handcrafted juices and infusions alongside its kombucha. Avillez and Formiga are not alone in redefining traditional Portuguese cuisine in the City of Seven Hills. In 2025, chef Marlene Vieira became the first Portuguese woman in 30 years to be awarded a Michelin star at her restaurant, Marlene, next to the Lisbon Cruise Terminal. After a decade working in London with another Portuguese chef (Nuno Mendes), António Galapito returned to his homeland to open Prado, a farm-to-table restaurant in Baixa, the city’s downtown.
A few hills away in the upmarket neighbourhood Lapa, a new era of Lisbon hospitality has been ushered in. Boutique hotel Tarabel Lisbon, a reimagined 19th-century mansion overlooking the city’s calming artery, the Tagus River, opened in September 2025. Mirroring its diplomatic neighbours, Tarabel has a discreet entrance, leading to a lavish sanctuary.
The Tarabel offers a home-away-from-home experience. French owner and interior designer Rose Fournier has styled the aspirational space with a melange of antique furniture, worldly trinkets, and charming aesthetics from her homeland (white interiors, bespoke upholstery adding pops of colour). A large birdcage – a flea-market find – greets guests in the lobby, kicking off a feathery theme that’s scattered throughout the hotel like Easter eggs.
Each of the nine distinct residences is open-plan, centred around a claw-foot bathtub. More reason to stay idle is the Deluxe Suite’s terrace, a joyous spot to soak in the sun. Similarly, the terraced gardens below are dotted with loungers and dining areas. From poolside, the hotel’s light-blue façade, hedge gardens, azulejo mural and white-and-yellow striped furnishings could be the subject of Tarabel’s own watercolour postcard.
Like many who have their favourite spot in a dining room, I quickly choose mine at Tarabel. Sitting right by the French windows, I watch life slowly unfold on the river as I tuck into a generous continental breakfast banquet: warm breads and pastries, shaved ham, local cheeses, eggs to order, housemade jams, seasonal fruits and juices. Gloriously, there’s no strict cut-off time to order, so the morning repast can bleed into lunch.
Hours later, with a returned appetite, I’m back warming my rose pink chair for dinner. Representing the new generation here is Afonso Blazquez Raposo. The young chef is at the helm of the restaurant in the hotel’s foyer, where the menu features classic Portuguese dishes given a modern twist. With dinner service only available to hotel guests, Raposo is able to thoughtfully curate each dish, complementing Tarabel’s homely ethos.
“When the people are eating, they really feel that this was made with so much care and love,” he says of his dishes.
My “modest” three-course meal includes lime-cured scallops with roasted gazpacho, beautifully topped with freeze-dried raspberries. Next, Iberian pork and Atlantic clams come served with a liberal pour of Porto wine jus, letting the Duoro Valley flow on my plate. Then a chocolate moelleux with a dollop of hazelnut ice-cream and cocoa nougatine for a nightcap. It’s something to write home about … From Portugal with love.
