During my stay in Lisbon, I took the opportunity to visit Encanto, José Avillez’s new vegetarian restaurant. The chef, who is certainly one of the main names in Portuguese gastronomy, opened the restaurant in March this year! The tasting menu is entirely dedicated to seasonal vegetables, coming from small producers from different parts of Portugal. In fact, a gastronomic experience that surprises with its delicacy and precision. Encanto lives up to its name! Take the opportunity to also read about chef Avillez’s other restaurants in the country.
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New vegetarian restaurant by José Avillez
Decorated by Studio Astolfi, Encanto has an elegant atmosphere, with dark woods, velvet curtains and side walls covered in oak veneer. In fact, it is located in a very discreet black door, where the starred Belcanto, also by Avillez, used to work.
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Throughout the 12 steps of the Encanto Menu (€115), the chef works with vegetables, leaves, seeds, algae, mushrooms, as well as flowers, fruits, eggs and cheeses. Therefore, we start with delicate and extremely tasty snacks. We also tried the carrot tartlet with pine nut milk and the spelled bread with smoked butter and sage ash. Then, beetroot with sweet potato and Dijon, and confit yolk with Jerusalem artichoke (a type of tuber), bean broth and truffle. Also noteworthy is the ox heart tomato, with basil flower, river mint and garlic flower petals.
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We then continued with the rice with black truffle, white radish and sheep’s butter, the mushrooms with leek in puff pastry and the green curry, with vegetables and citrus fruits of the color. The heart cabbage with onion corn, mustard seeds and Ilha cheese was also impeccably presented, like the other dishes!
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To finish, three desserts. The refreshing strawberry ice cream with coconut and broccoli, meringue with pine cream and quincã, and the fig with rotten cake, blueberry, hibiscus and goat’s milk.
Furthermore, the entire meal was paired with Portuguese wines and the service was impeccable! José Avillez’s vegetarian restaurant is certainly worth a visit.
Open from Tuesday to Saturday, for dinner only.
End: Largo de São Carlos, 10
Text and photos by Renata Araújo.
