Executive Chef: Vítor Sobral

Portuguese cuisine no longer only comprises of heavy meals with strong (and tasty) flavours, but rather it has evolved at a surprising speed and many new chefs have emerged on the scene. Each in their own way, these chefs are creators, developing a new concept of Portuguese cuisine that uses national ingredients, but in a more appealing, original and creative way. Gone are the days when the best restaurants in town were only the Italian or the Japanese restaurants.

One figure who gave life to this new phase of cooking is Vítor Sobral. With light green eyes and a friendly smile, Vítor Sobral and his crew not only manage one of the best restaurants in Lisbon - Tasca da Esquina, but also create new dishes and flavours on a daily basis.

Biography

It was at the young age of 21 that Vítor Sobral became a chef. He has worked in many of the most popular restaurants in Lisbon, including the Terreiro do Paço restaurant, which projected him to the most important chefs in the country. Vítor Sobral is a cook and author of several books that demonstrate some of the recipes he makes with the best national ingredients. He is known to be one of the pioneers of national tapas, as Miguel Castro Silva was in Porto. These little treats created from Portuguese rural traditions (especially from the Alentejo) can be tasted in his restaurant Tasca da Esquina which opened in 2007.


Tasca da Esquina (Corner Tavern)

Literally located on a street corner in the heart of Campo de Ourique, the Tasca da Esquina has large windows overlooking the street, which allow a typical Portuguese experience: watching life going on outside, whilst enjoying the best flavours of the Portuguese table inside. Upon entering, this minimalist and modern restaurant is only a “tavern” by name. Or maybe not ... as you enter, there is a bar where you can have a snack, a drink or a coffee, just like in taverns. The movement happening in the kitchen can be seen through a window, one of the most typical features of tascas. The service is friendly and informal. And when you leave after the meal, the Chef Vítor Sobral is sitting with friends nibbling on some of the petiscos he prepared .. customary in the neighbourhood tascas. Even with a smoking area, this "tavern" has clean and refined air to it. All other details make this "tavern" a restaurant full of charm and charisma.

The speciality of this restaurant is the petiscos, or snacks. Vítor Sobral stands out for his ability to create dishes that live in perfect harmony with cold and hot, smooth and crisp, tradition and modernity. Only when you try every petisco will you be able to understand how far the creativity of this chef goes. Keeping all the genuine Portuguese flavours, typical of a “tasca”, but with the refinement and techniques of haute cuisine, Vítor Sobral makes some of the most unique and delicious dishes in greater Lisbon. Therefore, take a risk and "Stay in the hands of Chef". Try the tasting menu, full of enjoyable surprises prepared by Vítor Sobral. The gizzards with apple, livers of poultry marinated with pears, the bed of tender beans that accompany a delicious farinheira sausage are just some of the snacks that serve as an excuse to pass by the Tasca da Esquina. Another excuse? The price. Each snack costs between € 3 and € 20.

What they say about Vítor Sobral:

"Vitor Sobral combines great creativity to the absolute dominion of cooking techniques without forgetting the artistic component. (...) He advocates with passion the Portuguese cuisine, which he has been an ambassador of all over the world." Manuel Gonçalves da Silva, food critic

"His kitchen was always given great value to products, flavours and Portuguese traditions." David Lopes Ramos, Journalist journal Public


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