Nuno Mendes to open new London restaurant

Tanwen Dawn-Hiscox

Deputy Editor

Chef Nuno Mendes is set to open a restaurant called Lisboeta in London in Spring 2022, two years after stepping away from Mãos at The Blue Mountain School in Shoreditch.

Lisboeta will be a collaboration between Nuno and the restaurant group MJMK, also behind chef Santiago Lastra's modern Mexican restaurant Kol and AngloThai, which will too open at a permanent location in the new year.

It will be opening at 30 Charlotte street in spring 2022.

The name of the restaurant literally meaning 'person from Lisbon', it is the aim of the ex-executive chef at Chiltern Firehouse, who trained with Ferran Adrià, Wolfgang Puck, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Rocco DiSpirito, will be to showcase the style of cooking and restaurant popular in the Portuguese capital, where he has concentrated most of his culinary prowess since he left Viajante, then Mãos in London.

Announcing the news, co-founder of MJMK Marco Mendes told The Evening Standard:“[Nuno] is someone who has inspired us for a long time and has a great reputation across the industry – quite rightly.

"Given our mutual connections to Portugal, we always have a lot to talk about and it’s great to have found someone who is so in tune with our own ambitions; whenever we speak we seem to be on the same lines and that makes for a very good working relationship.

“As a true Lisbonite, Nuno really captures the essence of Lisbon, is hugely knowledgeable about the city – not just it’s food, but the entire culture and spirit of it, and that’s very impressive.”

In a statement Nuno had this to say about his restaurant, "Liboeta is my love letter to Lisbon, the city I grew up in and the place I call home. I’m excited to share with London everything that makes it such a special city. Lisboeta embodies the very spirit of Lisbon."

The restaurant is to be set across three floors, with architect Joao Guedes Ramos bringing the traditional style of Lisbon to London.

The ground floor, inspired by café culture, will feature a long, seated bar. Upstairs, the dining room will make use of bankquette seats and whitewashed walls. Following later in the year, ‘The Adega’, will be a unique space overlooking the glass fronted kitchen and extensive wine cellar in the basement.

The food will also take inspiration from Lisbon life with Lunch and dinner being a communal affair involving many sharing dishes inspired by 'Tasca' style casual portuguese eateries of Lisbon.

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