Encanto has the same root word as “enchant” in Portuguese, and that’s exactly what two Michelin star chef José Avillez is hoping to do with his latest venture. It’s an enchanted place of haute cuisine, the restaurant’s announcement says, “where vegetables are celebrated as stars.”
It’s Lisbon’s highest-profile project yet that’s putting vegetables front and center. (Arkhe continues to delight the city’s omnivores with its refined plant-based menus, while chef João Rodrigues took a big step with a fully vegan tasting menu option at his Michelin one-star Feitoria last year.) Now Avillez is going all-in on a 100% vegetarian tasting menu.
It’s an ambitious one, with 12 “moments,” full of contrasting colors, textures, temperatures, and flavors. It probably goes without saying at this point that everything is seasonal and produced by small or local Portuguese farmers and foragers.
By definition, the menu changes regularly, but the restaurant opened in March 2022 with dishes like lupini and lava bean azevia (fried pastry with soft filling), confit egg yolk with Jerusalem artichoke and truffle, and cabbage with onion corn kernels and Azores cheese.
The possible pairings (a la carte or as a possible menu to compliment the meal) include biodynamic wines, craft beers, house-made juices, infusions, and kombuchas.
The dessert section of the menu begins with a nifty transition dish, made of strawberry sorbet, coconut and pickled broccoli, and the grande finale is still quite light, apple with yuzu.
The space, in the former Belcanto, is equally light and lovely, with interior architecture by Studio Astolfi, the designer of several appealing restaurants around town.
For more information visit the Encanto website.
Encanto by José Avillez
Largo de São Carlos 10
Chiado
Lisbon
Phone: +351 211 626 310
Reservations can be made on the website
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday – 19:00 to 23:00
Tasting menu: €95.00
Photos courtesy of Grupo Avillez
