We’re headed for Portugal.
I wholly embrace the chance to explore a different part of the world and have made all the necessary arrangements (as painful as an express brazilian might be). Though the bags are not yet packed, something is urging me to leave them half empty, so they can perhaps be filled elsewhere, or maybe it’s not about everything you take with you, but what you take away, if you catch my drift. It’s time to strut the streets of Lisbon, and I have made some exciting discoveries ahead of time, including a lunch reservation for one at Prado.
Hello, Kristof
This is the kind of place where’ I’d like to start each day in life, surrounded by coffee aromas and magazines, triumphantly ignoring the baked goods. Hello, Kristof please save me a spot, and pour water on your pastries before I get there. It’s better this way.
Prado Restaurant, Baixa
On first glance, the Prado interior designed by Ark Studio appears airy and inviting, even to someone considering a solo outing. All of the dishes are inspired by and made with national, seasonal, and fresh ingredients, from sea to land, and are accompanied by an elegant list of organic, bio dynamic, natural wines. What better way to spend a Friday afternoon? I’ll make sure to report back.
Artwork by Vanessa Teodoro
Vanessa Teodoro hails from South Africa who now calls Lisbon home. Her bold patterns were recently featured as part of a collaboration of silk scarf prints with Antiflop (seen below), though she does love the challenge of large-scale street artworks too.
Woven Bags & Baskets
I am actually frothing with excitement at the prospect of all those handcrafted Portugese woven accessories. I found the one below on Folk Loore but am leaving room in the itinerary to discover lots of colourful, reedy goodness while wandering the city on foot.
Amelia Lisboa
Amelia caught my eye with its impossibly pretty decor and sweet treats served on pastel dinnerware, with major secret garden vibes on Instagram. It is the lover and fairer half of Nicolau, another cafe with a decidedly handsome, more masculine interior. I wonder if they tell fortunes over cups of fragrant tea? Love wins for this pair.
Portugese Flannel
Portugese Flannel clothes are made by master craftsmen using traditional techniques in the old towns of northern Portugal. The ranges are inspired by people from the coast and mountains, adventurers, not trend driven consumers. This is my favourite pick of the Spring Summer 2018 season, called Passengers.
Beatriz Bettencourt
Beatriz Bettencourt showed Spring Summer 2018 recently at Portugal Fashion Week. She is one of the finalists in the Bloom Competition and has a rail at the Bloom Pop-Up corner at Daily Day, a multi-concept store located on Avenida dos Aliados, in the heart of Porto.
Cork & Co.
I first learned from Richard Ayoade a.k.a. Travel Man that Portugal produces around half of the world’s commercial cork supply. Since the demand for corks used in wine bottles has dramatically declined in recent times, I suppose it occurred to the designers at Cork & Co. to branch out in to desirable artefacts of functionality but with a very distinctive difference, which I happen to like a lot. I mean… a cork umbrella?
The Art of Bordalo II
Lisbon born Bordalo II specialises in trashart, assemblage, streetart, waste, sculpture, animals, nature, painting, colors, shapes, textures and ideas. He rejects his place in a generation of heavy consumers – with materialism and greed at an all time high, this Bordalo II set out to artistically show the sheer volume of trash that comes with the incessant cycle of buying things, only to promptly discard them. Any clues as to where I might find his art on the streets of Lisbon is welcome.
Pedro Pedro
I wanted to start (see image at top) and finish with my favourite discovery from Portugal, designer Pedro Pedro. His stripes and grid prints in the current collection are divine, as are the bold, electrifying colour choices and fabrics of his SS18 collection. I can see it all in Melbourne, setting those mean streets on fire.
The Garb Wire 