Bistro opens its doors – and mouth – to chef Udi Barkan

Once a month, always on Wednesdays, flavor and health are the big stars of dinners at Bistro, in menus designed by Israeli chef Udi Barkan.

Barkan will take over Bistro’s kitchen one Wednesday a month, inaugurating the residence in October, with the project “Fresh As It Gets by Udi Barkan”.

The aim is to bring together, every month, a selection of fruits and vegetables that are at their best during that season and create a unique menu that celebrates nature with all its flavor, inspiring those who taste it to explore and incorporate fresh seasonal ingredients in their meals. Although predominantly plant based, the menu may also feature seasonal fish and seafood, paying tribute to the Portuguese coast and its natural treasures.

Chef, Clinical Dietitian and holding a Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology, Udi Barkan firmly believes in the saying “we are what we eat”. “My mission is to help people fall in love with their local ingredients and teach them how to prepare flavorful food at home using affordable ingredients found in any household pantry”, he says.

At Bistro, this philosophy is put into practice through a menu (95 euros per person) consisting of seasonal bread and “dips”, starters, mains and desserts – some to share and some served individually – and drinks pairing (with or without alcohol). It’s pedagogy without the boring part: pure flavor and pleasure, discovery and joy.

The initiative is unprecedented at Bistro: although dinners with guest chefs have happened throughout the years, this will be the first time that a chef who is not part of 100 Maneiras group takes on a residency with a defined periodicity. Something possible only because of the way in which Udi personifies what is also Bistro’s philosophy, with a menu that, although maintaining a section dedicated to Bistro’s classics, is mainly composed of daily suggestions that change according to the freshest products that arrive, each day, at the kitchen.

Chef Udi Barkan’s first dinner at Bistro 100 Maneiras takes place on October 9th. Reservations are already available by phone, email or online.