“We don’t serve any food we wouldn’t eat or any drinks we wouldn’t drink,” says João Sá, the young chef of SÁLA, at the foot of Alfama, in Lisbon. He and his kitchen brigade treat guests in this “sala” (Portuguese for “room”) as they would in their dining rooms at home.
It turns out that an astonishing number of menu items are made in house, especially considering the restaurant’s small size—it has places for only about 36 diners. There’s a whole lot of fermenting going on: the artisanal bread made with miller’s flour, kombucha, kimchi and more.
Sá changes his menu frequently, to keep it in line with the seasons. (Expect no tomatoes in January.) He has cultivated relationships with farmers throughout Portugal, but especially those who are close to Lisbon.
Of the roughly 20 small plates on the menu, about half are vegetable-forward, if not vegetarian or vegan. The simple menu descriptions belie the complexity of the cooking that goes into them—though unlike at some fine dining restaurants, this is food to savor, not merely to admire. A standout is the surprisingly delicious winter cabbage and buckwheat dish (pictured at top), whose brightness in color is matched by its depth in flavor. The most labor-intensive dish is a “croissant” made from rolled, see-through-thin slices of potato and served with wild mushrooms and black truffles.
(above) Winter cabbage with buckweat; (at top) Urban garden vegetable salad
Aside from the vegetables, the rest of the menu is predominantly fish or seafood, including dishes such as carabineiro prawns with chestnut, and mackerel with pickled carrots. There are also a couple of carefully chosen meats.
Like the cooking, the dining room is deceptively simple. After a renovation by ForStudio, the space is light-filled and warm, with exposed wood tablecloths and a brushed-bronze bar between the dining room and the open kitchen. Sá was meticulous about all the elements, down to the leather silverware pouches.
Perhaps this is the result of his years of training. At age 12, he was already creating gastronomic events at school, and at age 14, he enrolled in the Estoril Hotel School. He worked with top chefs like Lubomir Stanisic at 100 Maneiras and Nuno Mendes at Viajante in London. He made his solo debut as a chef at G-Spot in Sintra in 2009 and went for three years without repeating a single dish. Unfortunately, that was not the time or the place. This one seems like it will be.
For more information visit the Restaurante SÁLA website.
SÁLA by João Sá
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 103
Lisbon
Phone: +351 218 873 045
Email: hello@restaurantesala.pt
Hours:
Tuesday to Friday – 12:00 to 15:00 and 19:00 to 23:00
Saturday – 12:00 to 23:00
Photos courtesy of SÁLA