Have You Heard About The Bespoke Vegetarian Restaurant? Discover Arkhe ♦ Before we peek at the Arkhe menu, our eyes are distracted by the (many) plants decorating the restaurant, which opened a month ago in the Lisbon neighbourhood of Santos. They are scattered throughout the room, with simple lines and stone arches, from which you can peek into the kitchen, where chef João Ricardo Alves and his team prepare the dinners. Secrets From Portugal will show you all about this amazing bespoke restaurant. Are you ready?
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Arkhe restaurant (from ancient Greek the beginning, origin) is a place dedicated to plant-based cuisine, respecting the seasons, the seasonality of the ingredients and the contact with small producers in search of the best ingredients.
João Ricardo Alves is a chef who combines passion, technique, study and creativity with strong environmental awareness. With the combination of these elements proposes an innovative and modern plant-based cuisine. With a background in classical French cuisine, his professional career includes countries such as Switzerland, France and England, where he has the privilege of working in the only vegetarian restaurants of the Michelin Guide Europe: Terre a Terre (Bib Gourmand) and Joia (1 star ) in Milan. After a period of travel through Asia, he ends up becoming head chef of the Hotel Fivelements in Bali, one of the pioneers of high vegetarian and vegan cuisine. In 2017 heads to Lisbon in search of his old family ties and during his stay begins a project of plant-based pop-up dinners that give rise to Arkhe Restaurant.
João Ricardo left São Paulo, Brazil, more than 10 years ago. The case has been successful one six on the internship in Switzerland, where he was obtained through a scholarship through a graduate degree in cooking. He ended up touring restaurants across Europe before being a chef at Fiveelements in Bali, one of Indonesia’s best-known vegan spaces. Now it is in Portugal, where, since January 6th, it has a restaurant in Lisbon: Arkhe, dedicated to vegetarian cuisine. In the new Arkhe will only use products of the season and according to the seasons. “85% of what we use is organic and we will often buy what we need from Mercado da Ribeira, always domestic products.”
Buckwheat blini with celery puree, celery pesto, green apple and mustard seeds is one of the options you can try in these first months of the restaurant. It will pity to ruin the plate. The same will happen with potato gratin with cauliflower cream, brothelaise sauce, roasted pumpkin, Serra cheese and walnut pesto (14 €). Topinambur cream, a root, with coffee is another suggestion. For dessert, try the recipe that combines pear, almond pranilé, chocolate and orange reduction.
The Arkhe has been under construction for four months and is in place of the old Pachamama, in Boqueirão do Duro, Santos. The restaurant has a capacity of 42 people. John wanted something minimalist for the decoration. “We took advantage of the space arches, laid some plants and left the old walls.” And now the question of why you wait so long: what does the name of the restaurant mean? “Arkhe is an ancient Greek word that means beginning, beginning, doing something new. This restaurant is just that, a fresh start with my wife. ”
