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Posted on May 10, 2021 in Blog, Portugal

What I Would Be Doing…

What I Would Be Doing…

For the second year in a row, the Covid-19 pandemic has prevented Richard and me from traveling to Portugal. His class at the university begins tomorrow, but it is entirely online again this year. There are advantages to the online course. Whereas his classes in Lisbon have averaged about a dozen students, the online class has 27 in attendance from all over the world.

The bar at José Avillez’s Lisbon restaurant, Minibar. There’s now one in Porto as well.

In fact, Portugal’s current rate of illness is among the lowest in the world despite the slow vaccine rollout in the EU. That hasn’t always been the case. The country was hit hard in January and February following the holiday season when families got together indoors and for the most part maskless. Then came a strict lockdown in early spring, with places only beginning to reopen at the end of April. We received a message from chef and entrepreneur José Avillez, whose restaurants (Belcanto, Minibar, Cantinho do Avillez, Bairro do Avillez, Páteo, Café Lisboa, and Pizzaria Lisboa) have reviews in our annual Lisbon and Porto restaurant roundups. All of his restaurants except for the upscale Belcanto opened in late April, with Belcanto now open as well.

Another chef we like with a local restaurant empire didn’t fare quite as well. Chef Kiko, owner of the popular Príncipe Real restaurant A Cerviceria, still has that restaurant — adding delivery to in-person dining — but O Asiático in nearby Bairro Alto is closed. His meat restaurant O Talho is also still open, but I don’t eat meat so we’ve never tried it, and O Poké in the seventh floor food court of Corte Inglês is also still there. Peixaria da Esquina, which bet on a strategy of gentrification in the Campo do Ourique neighborhood, is apparently only take out with a limited menu for now, with the chef’s other restaurant in the same neighborhood, Tasca da Esquina, offering indoor dining. Owner/chef Vitor Sobral has also opened several bakeries around Lisbon.

A huge plus for the Arroios neighborhood is the take-out for Indian-Mozambican restaurant Zaafran, one of our favorites.

As in New York City, it seems that restaurants with a large takeout component before the pandemic have thrived and even expanded, while those dependent on indoor dining, tourists, or three-martini lunches have faded. I was happy to see that one of our favorite Lisbon restaurants, the Indian-via-Mozambique place Zaafran, is still around. The year before the pandemic, they opened a second location around the corner from their restaurant for take-out only.

Since Portugal is now one of the “green-light” countries for the UK and the EU, I suggest you check the website for any place recommended in our restaurant roundups to make sure they are still open and if their hours have changed. When we return in-person next year, we hope we don’t see too many of our favorite places among the “dearly departed.” I promise that we will search out new places and add them to our review list as well so it’s as up-to-date as possible.

The outdoor seating for Joey Bats Cafe is awesome!

Speaking of restaurants surviving the pandemic (and the importance of a take-out and delivery component among those that survived), several weeks ago, I visited my old friends at Joey Bats Cafe on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. This little bit of Portugal on Allen St. between Delancey and Rivington seems to be thriving, thanks to the city’s allowing restaurants to build outdoor seating on sidewalks and in streets. The old cafe was mainly a take-out place with three tiny tables. Now there’s a large shed with a dozen big tables outside. Best of all, someone hooked up a giant TV screen so diners can watch soccer games from all over the world. I imagine that Joey Bats Cafe will be a major destination for viewers of next year’s World Cup. Portugal has already qualified, so we know they’ll be there!

4 Comments

  1. Portugal seems like the place to be! I’m sure you miss being there. How cool that you have found great restaurants with takeout service. Same here. I love curbside service.

    • Next year in Lisbon!

  2. I’m really looking forward to you coming back to Europe. I’m hoping I can join you again in Portugal. It’s such a beautiful country filled with beautiful people.

    • We were hoping to travel this summer, but there aren’t many flights. I saw the nightmare of the British tourists trying to get home before the quarantine, although the rise in cases is in the UK and not in Portugal. Better to stay on vacation or work remotely, especially since Portugal has excellent internet service.

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