Chiado’s Prince

Chiado´s prince is the name which the great José Avillez is known.

In the last September it was opened the new restaurant Café Lisboa, as the name says his location is in Lisbon, in Saint Carlos Nacional Theather. Where Chef Avillez want to recover the lost tastes of Lisbon greatest dishes, like the classic cream pie with cinnamon or the Lisbon pie which is made with meat cook in their own juices and brandy.

This is his fourth restaurant in Chiado (Cantinho do Avillez, Belcanto and Pizzaria Lisboa).

José came thundering in the world of gastronomy. He is graduated in Business Communication and Marketing, then his thesis is about Portuguese Gastronomy, when he realizing his passion for the food.

He started his career in restaurant “Forte do Guincho” in Cascais. He worked with considerable names in the world food, like Alain Ducasse, Ferran Adrià. He was a trainee in the best restaurant in the world, El Bulli in Roses, Barcelona.

That is why he is one of the most known, daring and spoken chefs in the Portuguese Food History.

Service during Moche Rip Curl Pro 2013

Everyone knows about the surf competition Rip Curl Pro, and a lot of people come to see and/or participate in it.

So, when we were told that we would have to do a service to promote the region to foreigners and people from other regions of the country, we knew that it would be quite a task and it would also imply a considerable number of food samples.

The tasting menu was easy to do:

•  wraps of sauté vegetables with mayonnaise sauce and dill

• mackerel canapés with pepper jam

•  and poached pears in red wine with “crème fraîche”.

Arriving at the beach, first we had to finish the samples and to plate them up, but then, it was time to show people what we got.

In spite of the anxiety at the beginning, it was awesome. And do you know what was the best thing, that made me smile from the heart, if that’s possible? People trying out the food, I seeing their faces of satisfaction, and they saying how good it was. That little thing was the reward of all the work that we had.