Drogaria Restaurant- Modern Portuguese in Lisbon

For all of its worldly flavors and cosmopolitan glamour, Drogaria restaurant in Lisbon, is both a passion project and a homecoming for its proprietor. Restaurateur Paulo Aguiar grew up nearby, in Lapa, and remembers when the space was an actual drogaria (a shop for household goods), a hub of social life in the neighborhood.

Now he wants to re-create that spirit, while making it a gathering place in today’s more international Lisbon. The food, dreamed up by talented chef Daniel Sousa, is Portuguese for sure, but with fine technique and some foreign accents.

That’s because it’s also a homecoming for Sousa, who trained and began his career in Portugal before working for Michelin-star restaurants like ABaC in Barcelona and the three-star Robuchon Au Domme in Macau. There, and again when he came back to Portugal and the Azores and the Algarve, he absorbed cultures, styles, techniques, new ingredients and influences.

At Drogaria, that means creative, contemporary interpretations of Portuguese cuisine, seen in dishes like bruchetta with cured sardines and pepper salad on Gleba bread (“Santo Antonio on our plate”), Azorean-style caldo do pico with market fish, saffron and aromatic herbs, and duck rice with barley and beetroot (at top). There are vegetarian and vegan options as well.

The decoration is equally striking. The old neighborhood drugstore was given a gorgeous makeover with references to 1930s Art Nouveau and 1960s velvet curtains. The black-and-white tile floors, marble tabletops and abundant mirrors also give it a bistro vibe.