After years of working at award-winning restaurants in Estonia, Portuguese chef Diogo Caetano brought some New Nordic ideas of seasonality, hyperlocality, simplicity, and purity with him when he returned home. After a stint at the intimate Ceia Table in Lisbon, he’s put those ideas firmly into practice at his own restaurant Terruja.
The subtitle for the place, which won a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2025, is Nature-Based Restaurant. It’s an homage to the chef’s childhood, which he spent in the countryside of the Serra de Aire e Candeeiros, in the Silver Coast region north of Lisbon.
The idea is to be not only a restaurant but an immersion in tradition and geographical location. In practical terms, that means the sort of fashionable menu that names each dish for its star ingredient: cuttlefish (grilled, with seaweed salad and Champagne sauce), mackerel (marinated in ponzu and served with parsnip and horseradish cream), or duck (magret with blood-infused cabidela rice “just like a mother or grandmother would make”).
The way to go, though, is the nine-course tasting menu (and optional wine or non-alcoholic pairing), a small parade of beautifully presented bites, snacks, and larger plates that tells the story of the chef, his relationship with this homeland, and the international ideas he’s picked up along the way.
For more information, visit the Terruja website.
Terruja
Casa dos Matos
Rua Dom fuas Roupinho
Alvados
Phone: +351 933 371 717
Wednesday to Sunday – 12:00 to 22:00
