Nuno Mendes’s Michelin-listed Lisboeta has its final service this Saturday, August 23 – but diners won’t have to wait long to get their Portuguese food fix on Charlotte Street. In September, the space relaunches as Luso (a word derived from Lusitania, the Roman province that now makes up most of Portugal) with a menu of Portuguese classics reimagined through a contemporary lens.
Luso will be led by consultant executive chef Leandro “Leo” Carreira, who spent three years at boundary-crossing Basque restaurant Mugaritz and, since moving to London in 2011, has worked at Mendes’s now-closed Portuguese diner Viajante; Lyle’s; Koya; and The Sea The Sea, where he was executive chef. His menu is inspired by the Iberian Atlantic coastline, as well as under-appreciated regions of Portugal, and will harness flame-cooking techniques.
Diners can expect dishes such as oven-roasted suckling pig with caramelised skin; lunch-only pregos (steak sliders with brown butter, mustard and garlic); and baked lobster rice. From the sea, expect salt-baked sea bass, clams à bulhão pato (in lemon and white wine) and a Cornish spider crab tartare. On the sweet side there’ll be almond cake, chocolate mousse with olive oil, and a baked pineapple cake served chilled.
The wine list pulls from Portugal’s best producers across a range of terroirs – including a handful of bottles from Herdade do Cebolal, a Setúbal Peninsula winery that ages its bottles under water, in lobster cages.
As for Mendes? The former Chiltern Firehouse chef will continue leading Cozinha das Flores in Porto and Santa Joana in Lisbon, as well as working with The Rose in Deal. “We’ve had an amazing ride,” he said on Instagram. “I feel proud that we’ve helped to cement Portuguese cuisine in London and beyond. I have no doubt [Luso] will be extraordinary.” He also hinted at a new opening in London.
Like Lisboeta, Luso is owned and operated by MJMK Restaurants, the group behind Kol, Fonda and Anglothai.
“We’re looking forward to this next chapter for both the team and the restaurant,” said MJMK co-founders Marco Mendes and Jake Kasumov in a statement. “It’s a sentimental moment being able to bring to London the dishes from the lesser-known parts of Portugal and offer a menu that taps into the crossover with Andalusian, Basque, and Galician cooking.”
Luso opens in September at 30 Charlotte Street, W1T 2NG.
