Mellert Kitchen

One of Telmo Mellert’s fondest childhood food memories is “Joaquina’s empadão”, the pie he used to eat at his grandmother’s house. Decades later, the chef set out to recreate it in his own way – which initially took shape as a chicken, chorizo and pea pie. It was still a long way from where he wanted to be – the pies of Mellert Kitchen – but that’s how this namesake venture was born, now with two shops to its name (in Monte Estoril and Lisbon). The secret might lie in the pastry, but the fillings more than hold their own: pork neck, veal, duck, turkey, chicken, spinach, wild boar, partridge, seafood, salt cod and lentils – with dozens of specials ready to try every day.