The logo of the new Libertà Kitchen—sported by all the staff on the T-shirts that are part of their casual uniforms—is an upraised fist, holding an artichoke. It’s a reference to the Olympic torch, the Statue of Liberty, and freedom fighters everywhere. What it means here (in case you didn’t get it from the name) is that this is an Italian restaurant that celebrates freedom.
And so it steers clear from the same-old, same-old clichés of Italian restaurants outside of Italy. There’s no pizza, and apart from a very good spaghetti pomodoro with burrata, no classic red sauce dishes. Rather, Bergamo-born chef Silvio Armanni brought skilled technique and a typically Italian reverence for the best possible ingredients to Lisbon, and then decided not to be bound by any sort of convention.
The menu is compact but has good variety for a variety of tastes and requirements. There’s homemade focaccia with mortadella but also an eggplant-basil bruschetta (made with Gleba bread). There’s beef tartare with stracciatella and 12-year-old Modena DOP balsamic vinegar, but also a lighter crude of amberjack with fennel and citrus.
Moving on, the pastas include cavatelli with seafood, tagliatelle with rabbit, and a type of ravioli with mean, crispy pancetta, basil, and Parmesan, a comfort food speciality from Armanni’s hometown. And while one could probably stop there, second plates include a light branzino with celery root puree and spinach, and a combination place of Azorean beef with oxtail stuffed with plums. Desserts are classic, like tiramisu and cannoli.
The dining room is handsome and sleek, refined without being cold. Overhead, the ceiling is decorated with thousands of individually tied stalks of wheat, a playful reference to the base of Italian gastronomy. There are no white tablecloths. The best tables are the ones with the views of the kitchen.
Libertà Kitchen is just off of Avenida da Liberdade on Rua Rodrigues Sampaio. For more information, visit the Libertà Kitchen Instagram page.
Libertà Kitchen
Rua Rodrigues Sampaio 39
Lisbon
Phone: +351 213 541 182
Email: reservations@liberta.kitchen
Hours:
Tuesday to Friday -12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 23:30
Saturday – 19:00 to 23:30
