He lived the war in Bosnia when he was still a teenager, forced to carry arms instead of riding a bicycle or playing basketball, he had to defend old men and children when he was still a child himself. He found refuge in different parts of the former Yugoslavia until arriving at Belgrade – and until that trip that brought him to Portugal.

He wanted to get away from everything: from that culture of war, but especially from the lack of future. He found motives as he traveled the world. And it was the world that made him the cook – the person – he is today. The defeats, the wars, made him stronger. And the difficulties made him appreciate the “little” things in life. Like the potatoes his mother cooked every day, when she had nothing else to put on the table…

The controversial cook and television star is passionate about food, about life. It is not only what they taste like – food and life – but above all how they make him feel. Potatoes will always mean comfort, but also scarcity and creativity. It is not by chance that he admires the gastronomy of Alentejo, made exactly of “lack” – and of flavor without concessions. But it was almost by chance (was it?!) that he eventually chose the Alentejo – and the Grândola region – to start thinking about his old age. But about that, he will “tell” you later …

Ljubo opened his first restaurant in Cascais at the age of 26, but he became a cook by necessity, while still in Belgrade, “emigrated” with his mother Rosa and his sister Natasa. At the age of 14 – and with the strength of the 20s – he got a job in a bakery. He worked at night and studied during the day. He didn’t even like the smell of bread, but he had to support his family. He slept on the bus on his way to school, during classes… Today he realizes the importance of this experience – and of his contact with Bobe, his employer: with him, he learned the value (and hardship) of work.

Ljubo was converted. From passionate he became an ambassador: of the flavors, products and producers, traditions and national landscapes. That trip through the country was over. Curiosity wasn’t. Never. In 2013, with his family aboard a campervan, he embarked on the Papa Quilómetros Europe project, traveling through the old continent with awakened senses, focused on discovering the gastronomy of the countries included in the itinerary: Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. The trip was shared online, in weekly chronicles published in Expresso’s magazine and, later that year, in the book Papa Quilómetros Europa – the second written in partnership with Mónica Franco and published by Casa das Letras.

In 2015 he packs his bags again and leaves in a short but prolific trip that develops into the work 100 Cocktails 100 Maneiras, thought with Nuno Faria and Mónica Franco (who also signs the texts). All across the country, Ljubomir Stanisic and the team from Bistro 100 Maneiras bar searched for products, producers and landscapes that inspired new cock-tails, more than a hundred of them, published by A Esfera dos Livros in an unprecedented work in Portugal, highlighting the connection between the kitchen and the cocktails. More than a book, it is a statement of intent, a rupture with prejudice: a trend that marks the identity of Ljubo and 100 Maneiras.

In these 20-plus-years of cooking, Ljubomir has won some awards, such as the “Mais Chefe” award at the “Óscares do Alentejo”, by Mais Alentejo magazine, thanks to his work as a consulting chef at Sublime Comporta hotel in the Summer of 2017, but there was one that especially moved him: the David Lopes Ramos Gastronomy Award, awarded in 2016 by Revista de Vinhos. To remain forever associated with the name of a great figure in national gastronomy, a journalist and critic, already deceased, who Ljubo admired and who helped him grow as a cook, felt like, more than a privilege, a responsibility.

Still in 2016, and until July 2019, he took on a role that would change his way of thinking, acting, cooking… He became a gastronomic consultant for the first hotel of the prestigious Six Senses group in Europe (the Six Senses Douro Valley). If his connection to land, produce and producers has always been intense – first planted on the banks of the river Sava, on the border between Serbia and Bosnia, at Uncle Misha’s house, where he learned how to fish and hunt, but especially to survive and respect the nature that nourishes us – that connection was imprinted in his kitchen, in his food forever. On the banks of another river, the Douro, he began exploring a way of cooking with direct connection to health, well-being, sustainability. Without ever compromising taste and pleasure – two of the motivations that make him live.

The audiences success of the first season of the Portuguese version of the show Kitchen Nightmares (Pesadelo na Cozinha), broadcast from March 2017 on TVI, put Ljubo in the mouths of the world, and for this work of “tuning” (or trying to…) 13 restaurants scattered throughout the country, registering historical records every week, he ended up being considered “Personality of the Year in Gastronomy 2017”, by Revista de Vinhos.

At the same time, Bistro 100 Maneiras is distinguished with a prize that will always make him proud: world number 1 in the Monocle Restaurant Awards 2017 – and the following year, it wins an honorable third place. After seven years of existence, the distinction presented by the prestigious lifestyle magazine to his second restaurant is a proof. Ljubo (and his team) are on the right track. Now they can only stay on the same path. The award of Best Brand / Concept attributed by AHRESP to 100 Maneiras Group, already in 2018, only underlined this certainty.

The years go by and Ljubo doesn’t stop. Restless, impatient, insatiable and unsatisfied by nature, he is known to be demanding (but generous), hard (and affectionate too).

He creates family ties in his restaurants. He gathers friends – Nelson Santos and Nuno Faria – to form a society. He brings the family to help him: his mother Rosa cooked with him in the opening months of the first restaurant in Lisbon and moved to Portugal when he opened Bistro; his sister Natasa has arrived at 100 Maneiras and became responsible for the purchasing and management department of the 100 Maneiras group. His wife, Mónica Franco, is responsible for his and 100 Maneiras’ image and communication, and with her he creates books, tv shows and concepts inside and outside the group.

An example of this is the book “Bistromania – No Bistro Como em Casa“, published in September 2018 by Casa das Letras and signed by Ljubomir Stanisic and Mónica Franco (distinguished, in September 2020, in The Autumn Harvest List of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and winner of the Photography Award at Portugal Cookbook Fair 2020, with photos by Fabrice Demoulin). A book that is also a life story: it is about a restaurant, Bistro 100 Maneiras by Ljubomir Stanisic, but it’s above all a personal piece that makes us feel at home. The chef’s home made ours in a snap.

In early 2019, after almost four years of projects and construction, the result of the union of these heads is born: the new 100 Maneiras (1 Michelin star), at Rua of Teixeira, 39. A restaurant that is the natural evolution of nº35, on the same street (meanwhile closed for refurbishment) and that for 10 years marked the rebirth and rise of the chef. Opened on February 28, 2019, it is the result of years of research, a sign of maturity. The chef’s maturity but also of the 100 Maneiras group.

Divided into 3 rooms (The Glass Room, The Dining Table and The Back Room), the space combines nature and cosmopolitanism, ruin and luxury. The offer includes three tasting menus: “The Story “(with 17 moments),” The Short Story “(shorter) and” Echoes of 100 “, 100% vegetarian. And even a cocktail bar for an “stirred” (and not shaked!) experience.

This restaurant is the result of many life stories, as many as those who fit inside 100 Maneiras, but, first of all, the story of Ljubomir Stanisic, the most-Portuguese-Yugoslav-chef-ever. 9 months after its opening, comes the first great distinction: the inclusion on the 50 Best Discovery list, compiled by the organization of The World’s 50 Best.

Still in 2019, the third season of “Pesadelo na Cozinha” is announced, broadcasted between December 2019 and Februrary 2020.

In the Summer of 2019, he opens Líquen, in the Azores, a pop-up project where he pays tribute to the generosity of the land and the ocean, where the greatness of resources is praised with simplicity, where genuineness is not confused with false traditionalisms.

In August 2020, when the country was stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ljubo launched his online store, a long-thought project, where all his signature products come together: knives, chef jackets, salt, beer, wines, spirits, books, tableware… In common, they have the love for flavor, for cooking, for sharing and, of course, the chef’s name.

At the same time, Ljubomir signs a deal with SIC (tv channel), where he will be the host of the portuguese version of Hell’s Kitchen.

In December 2020, restaurant 100 Maneiras wins its first Michelin star. A reason to celebrate in a difficult year. And a few months later, in February 2021, a new award: the title of “Chef of the Year 2020”, awarded to Ljubomir by Revista de Vinhos.

In March 2021, Ljubomir debuts Hell’s Kitchen Portugal at SIC, with Hugo Nascimento, friend and chef of Naperon restaurant in Odeceixe, as well as Manuel Maldonado and several other elements (and former collaborators) of 100 Maneiras.

In November, he opened Carnal, a Mexican gastrobar, with Manuel Maldonado (executive chef) and Luis Ortiz (head chef)  – the “hijos” of 100 – awarded with a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide.

Still in November 2021, it’s the national premiere of the documentary film “Ljubomir Stanišić – Heartbeat”. In the 100-minute feature film, 10 years of shooting are condensed. A documentary about gastronomy and the chef, but also about a “refugee” who overcame the stigma of being an emigrant through the power of work. In the 2nd semester of 2022 the documentary made its debut on the international circuit of film festivals, in countries such as Turkey, Israel, Spain, Germany, USA and Mexico.

In July 2022, he returns to the small screen with the docuseries “Pela Estrada Fora”, created with Mónica Franco, where, together with two great friends, Nuno Faria and Paulo Furtado (the musician The Legendary Tigerman) travel around Portugal and show a new way of looking at the country, the places, the cuisine and the people.

A year later, he returns for the third time to his role as host of Hell’s Kitchen Portugal on SIC, this time to present the first Hell’s Kitchen Celebrities worldwide, surrounded, once again, by his team.

Ljubo is the glue that keeps it all together. Able to move winds and tides to get wherever he wants to. Despite being a man without fears, he always listens to his heart, he is attentive to the signs. Like the one he was given by an old seer, handicapped and without legs, who people claimed to be holy, while he was still a refugee in Belgrade: she said Ljubo was going to live in a city in the middle of two different waters… A city, a country, where he found peace (and love!), the literal translation of the name “Ljubomir”.