Following on from the May 2009 and October 2009 editions we told you about here, the Lisbon restaurant Week starts again tomorrow in its third edition and goes on until 6th March.

This iniciative, originated in New York 16 years ago and implemented in many other capitals since, allows diners to sample gourmet dishes at Lisbon’s top restaurants for the excellent price of 20 euros per person (drinks not included). For every client, 1€ is then donated to charity.

Thus the objective of Lisboa Restaurant Week is to help different charities and provide easy access to quality dining, and participating restaurants in this edition once again include Casa da Comida, Conventual, Cop’3, Eleven, Gemelli, Mezzaluna, Olivier, and XL, amongst many more (full list below).

For this edition, and to commemorate the Peixe em Lisboa event to be held in April, participating restaurants will also offer a special fish dish option for 25 euros.

See the full list of restaurants below, and if you’re not in Lisbon during the next 2 weeks, don’t worry, you can still check out our Lisbon restaurants guide for other excellent dining recommendations.

1. Ad Lib
2. Alecrim às Flores
3. Associação Naval de Lisboa
4. Brasserie Flo Lisboa
5. Bubbly
6. Casa da Comida
7. Clara Jardim Restaurante
8. Coffee Shop do Real
9. Coisas de Comer
10. Conventual
11. Cop’3
12. Eleven
13. Faz Figura
14. Flores
15. Fontana Park Hotel- Restaurante Bonsai
16. Fontana Park Hotel- Saldanha Mar
17. Gemelli
18. Guarda Real- Hotéis Real Portugal
19. Il Gattopardo
20. Kais
21. L’Appart
22. Lapa
23. Mezzaluna
24. Momento Gourmet
25. Olivier Café
26. Panorama- Sheraton Lisbon Hotel
27. Petra Rio
28. Pratus
29. Quinta dos Frades by Chakall
30. Restaurante Aviz
31. Restaurante El Corte Inglés
32. Sessenta
33. Sofisticato
34. Spot Lx
35. Spot São Luiz
36. Suite- Food and Dance
37. Tágide
38. Terraço
39. Varanda
40. Varanda de Lisboa
41. Vela Latina
42. XL

More info at http://www.lisboa-restaurantweek.com

Lisbon’s latest restaurant was one thought for the beautiful people. One of the owners is the president of the Elite model agency, the others are models, and the place is also meant to be a meeting point for the fashion world. “Opaq” is found on a street lined with mostly-abandoned buildings just off Largo Conde Barão in the Santos neighborhood, and was given a glamorous look to match the intended clientele. It’s all about contemporary design, with white and purple tones, all dimly lit.
Considering all of this, you’d expect it to be a pretentious, exclusive place, but it’s actually not looking to become the hot restaurant of the moment. Although it’s linked to the fashion tribes, it’s open and welcoming to everyone.
Usually restaurants by and for the pretty faces and trendy crowds tend to concentrate more on style and forget about the quality of the food, but at Opaq there seems to be an effort to also have an attractive menu. The chef cooks up mostly Portuguese/Mediterranean cuisine, innovating the most traditional dishes, and offering them at surprisingly reasonable prices.

Address: Boqueirão do Duro, 50 (ao largo Conde Barão)
Phone: 213 940 602
Opening times: Closed on Sundays all day and Mondays at dinner time. Lunches served Monday to Friday from 12PM to 3PM.
Website: http://www.opaq.pt/

Now that daylight is becoming prolonged and the temperatures will start to rise (spring is just about four weeks away!), Lisbon is offering you a new spot for a drink in the sun. Just opened in the recently-renovated Jardim do Torel, this is another viewpoint café where you can admire the city as you enjoy a light meal or a refreshing drink. It’s not one of those charming old kiosk cafés opened last summer, but rather a brand-new and contemporary structure. You can sit indoors or at a table outside, enjoying a salad, toasted sandwich, a chocolate or cheesecake, or a freshly squeezed juice starting at 10AM until 7PM (for now because it will remain open until later in the upcoming summer months). Those looking for a pre-dinner, after-work, or after-sightseeing drink also have the option of wine by the glass, sangrias, and mojitos.
Best of all is that the garden remains one of the city’s best-kept secrets, found away from the beaten tourist path (although easily reached by the Lavra funicular), and even often forgotten by locals. So you’ll likely have most of the space and view all for yourself, although probably just for now because come summer, word of mouth will surely change that…

J. Crew’s recent photo shoot in Portugal is not just featured on the company’s catalogue and website, it’s also an inspiration for its shops on New York’s Madison and 5th avenues (see photo below). And in May you can take a look at Portuguese design in New York, at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and buy it at the MoMA Store which will have a special display called “Destination: Portugal”. They’ll be pieces made of cork (very eco-friendly) such as umbrellas, purses, and watches. Portugal is the world’s biggest exporter of cork and these products are made by the Pelcor company which has a shop in Lisbon (Rua das Pedras Negras, 32)

An article published in the travel section of the American Pittsburgh Post-Gazette goes through Lisbon’s museums and finds that together with the city’s “romantic views, grand public squares, and tiled walkways,” the Portuguese capital “is the most gracefully decorated city on Earth.”
The writer starts at the city’s most famous art collection, that of the Gulbenkian Museum, and also explores the Orient Museum and the Tile Museum which “speak to the city’s soul.” Then it’s time to go to the district of Belém for a visit to the Electricity Museum, and of course the irresistible pastries which the author found that “like the city’s charming museums, they left a taste of Lisbon’s grace and warmth.”
You can read the entire article here: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Travel

The monthly Italian publication “Bell’Europa” (distributed throughout Europe and internationally) has an eleven-page article about Lisbon’s “8 magnificent restaurants” in its February issue. It features photos of the interiors and recommended dishes of each restaurant, as well as that of each restaurant’s chef.
The chosen restaurants were 100 Maneiras for its “refined gastronomy,” Olivier for being frequented by the “local jet-set but a good value,” Alma for its “design and innovative cuisine,” Eleven because it’s “perfection,” the new De Castro Elias for “the most authentic dishes of Portuguese cuisine,” Sommer for its “warm and relaxing ambience,” Tasca da Esquina because of its “charismatic and surprising chef,” and finally, Via Graça and its “incomparable view of the city.”
According to the magazine, these are the eight restaurants and reasons to “discover the heart of a surprising (and tasty) capital.”
The last two pages of the article are then filled with other suggestions for a trip to Lisbon, such as a stay at the Bairro Alto Hotel, and visits to the Chiado Museum and Calouste Gulbenkian Museum.
This is the second time in a year that the magazine dedicates a large part of an issue to Portugal’s capital, having the city already been featured on the cover as the main destination of the May 2009 issue.

A new Lisbon tourist survey has found that the main reason travelers choose to visit Lisbon is because the city is so inexpensive. That’s a reflection of the global economic crises where cost speaks louder than anything else. This survey was conducted throughout 2009 and found that another factor weighed when choosing Lisbon as a travel destination is the city’s “beauty and history,” which had been the top reason to visit in previous surveys.
This study also showed that people are planning to travel less, with only two thirds of those questioned saying that they’re likely to return to Lisbon, when about 90% of those asked in previous surveys had said they foresaw a second visit. It seems that everyone’s being much more selective in their travel choices, choosing new, affordable places as opposed to returning to destinations they’ve enjoyed. This may also explain why Lisbon’s tourists in 2009 were mostly first-time visitors, which seems to be a travel trend around the world.
The average age of a Lisbon tourist was found to be between 25 and 34, with senior traveler numbers dropping significantly.

After the J. Crew catalogue, now it’s the annual swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated magazine to feature Lisbon in a major photo shoot. It hit the newsstands yesterday, with the usual beautiful women (one of them is model Jessica Gomes of Portuguese heritage), but this time also with beautiful views of Lisbon as the backdrop. Lisbon is referred to as one of Europe’s most exciting cities, and in addition to the city center, the shoot also took place in the Estoril and Cascais coast (Lisbon’s most famous beach area) and the magnificent Portinho da Arrábida beach south of the city.
You can see those photos on the Sports Illustrated website or you can pick up an issue of the magazine now.

Downtown Lisbon has a new hotel. It’s the third to open in the past year, after Vincci Baixa and Gat Rossio. This one is called Altis Avenida and is also a 4-star boutique-style hotel. It has one of the best locations in the city, facing Restauradores Square and therefore also just around the corner from the bustling Rossio, with most of the rooms offering beautiful views. Some of them face Restauradores, while others look over Rossio all the way to the river.
The building was built in the 1940s and has been fully renovated. While the interior is contemporary, it is slightly inspired by 1940s glamour when Lisbon was a neutral safe haven for exiled nobility during WWII.
In total there are 72 rooms, with the top floor reserved for a restaurant and a terrace bar overlooking all of downtown.
The hotel is perfect for both leisure and business travelers, with a meeting room, business center, and free wifi throughout the building.
You may get more information and book it here: Altis Avenida Hotel

Valentine’s Day is here again. Among the many marriage proposals, weddings, and countless romantic dinner dates, there will be a lot of traveling, and Lisbon is the perfect destination. It’s much warmer than pretty much everywhere else in Europe, it’s reasonably-priced, and best of all, it’s wonderfully romantic. If looking for a good restaurant for two on that special day in Lisbon, here are 10 to consider and book now:

AFREUDITE
This restaurant claims to offer aphrodisiacal food, so naturally it’s prepared a special menu for the international day of love.

ALMA
Take your soulmate to “Alma” (“soul”), an all-white restaurant for a dreamy in-the-clouds dinner for two. The chef is one of Lisbon’s most renowned and the menu is contemporary Portuguese.

AS SALGADEIRAS
This restaurant used to be a bakery, and much of its interior has been preserved. That includes an old brick oven and the stone vaulted ceiling, all dimly lit. It creates a romantic atmosphere for a dinner for two, with the menu listing Portuguese cuisine, much of it inspired by northern Portugal.

BUBBLY
It’s usually closed on Sundays, but this Valentine’s Sunday it’s open for a special dinner. Feel your relationship sparkle with the help of the sparkling wine used in most of the dishes or poured into your glass.

CRAVO E CANELA
Enjoy a candlelit dinner of fusion cuisine accompanied by light sounds of background music. Before you head back home, stop at the bar for just one more drink.

IMPÉRIO DOS SENTIDOS
This Bairro Alto restaurant has lots of tables for two, art on the walls, and dimmed lighting — perfect for couples. The menu is international with strong Italian/Mediterranean influences. It’s also gay-friendly.

NOVA MESA
This new softly-colored restaurant in one of the city’s most romantic and tranquil squares serves a menu of a fusion of flavors. Enjoy your dinner, then go for a moonlit walk through the charming Principe Real neighborhood.

SOFISTICATO
With a décor made up of silver and golden tones mixed with velvet furnishings, Sofisticato certainly has one of Lisbon’s most sophisticated restaurant interiors. The menu is also refined, and the atmosphere perfect for a special dinner.

SPIANATA
The large outdoor terrace at this restaurant is a great setting for a romantic meal, but sitting at the interior glassed dining area is just as pleasant, with good food and service to match.

VALLE FLOR
Pestana Palace Hotel has a palatial restaurant to go with the grandeur of the rest of the building. It is in that grand setting that you can make your special someone feel like a king or queen, enjoying a refined menu and views of the magnificent garden.