Nuno Mendes’ Santa Joana is your Non-Negotiable Lisbon Restaurant Booking 

• Beanie Stolper: Santa Joana is housed in a 17th-century convent, a space steeped in centuries of history. In a way, the building itself echoes the dishes, a mix of preserving heritage and embracing contemporary aesthetics. How does that past influence the way you craft the menu and the dining experience?
  Nuno Mendes: For me the setting is what informs how we approach things at Santa Joana. The convent is steeped in rich history so this is our guide for the menu and the experience. I grew up in Lisbon so I wanted to use the Lisbon of my youth as a starting point, but then bring our food to the Lisbon of now. Busy, more cosmopolitan and more confident!

• BS: Most fine dining spots go for intimacy and low light, but Santa Joana is open, airy, and relaxed. How much do you think about the pace of the room when designing a menu?
  NM: For me, they go hand in hand. In fact, the space and design directly inform the menu. I didn’t want to create a fine dining experience, I wanted something more fun and convivial. Refined, yes, but also democratic. A place where you can enjoy a little, or go all out.

• BS: At dinner, the way Pedro, your lovely wine sommelier, guided us through the wines felt almost like a story unfolding. How do you see wine and food as collaborators in shaping not just taste? How did you start collaboratively building the wine list?
  NM: Absolutely, the drinks and wine offering is integral to the experience. It goes hand in hand with the food. We’ve cherry-picked exceptional producers, both local and international, they are mavericks of the industry and singular characters in the wine world. In many cases, our selections are driven by the people behind the projects and their approach to winemaking. Some of them are even friends. As with the food, we like to build a strong narrative around our wine list, while keeping a democratic approach to how it’s put together. It’s fun, multi-layered, focused, and always considered. Every listing has a purpose. I can’t stand fillers!

BS: Echoing the first question, the Bifana was a conversation between histories and traditions, very similar to the building. When you reinterpret Portuguese classics, are you trying to preserve the past, challenge it, or create something entirely new?
NM: Our menu is built around storytelling. Every dish has a narrative and a purpose. I’m not interested in simply recreating the classics, but I do love using them as inspiration. Through that lens, we aim to create something fresh and unexpected. The Bifana, for example, is actually a fartura dressed up as a Bifana.

BS: The steak tartare, with Asian-inspired French turnip, pimentos, cured egg yolk, and spice, was a take on the French classic. What made you pair dishes from varying nationalities, purely in the moment by taste, or a longer, more considered creation and conversion between the two?
NM: Well, actually, the starting point here was a Korean dish that I love called Yukhoe, which is their take on tartare. Beef tartare, for me, is a dish that not only belongs on the menu but is integral to it. It’s tasty, easy to share, slightly luxurious, and in itself a statement about our cooking. It’s also a great staple of the modern age local high-end brasserie. This version celebrates the high quality of the meat, the Portuguese love for turnips, the wonderful local pine nuts, and the far-flung spices that are now part of our global pantry, something that also celebrates our rich cultural history through the Japanese chilies and condiments.

BS: Minimalism in your dishes, like the grilled pork, feels deliberate, almost meditative, allowing a bit of space between each course. How do you decide what to leave out as much as what to include?
NM: I used to load plates with layers and preparations, but now I try to strip things back as much as possible and focus on simple, yet complex, combinations. It allows us to really hone in on the precision of each element. There’s less room to hide that way, but that’s what makes it exciting. It pushes us to rely fully on product, cooking, and technique.

BS: At ‘The Loft Project’ you called it a ‘chef’s gallery’ Do you see Santa Joana as a continuation of that idea, a space for appreciation, contemplation, and admiration of aesthetics and mastery and what do you do to make it feel like that?
NM: I believe Santa Joana is all of the above, however more importantly, it’s a place to have fun and let yourself go. The Loft Project was a ‘Gallery for Chefs’ so the concept was used very differently. We offered a blank canvas for young chefs to showcase their work and express themselves. I’d love to bring that concept back to life one day, maybe in Lisbon, but in a different kind of space. Food is fleeting, yes, but it can spark memory and emotion. When I’m creating a meal or designing a concept, my main focus is always to deliver the best possible hospitality. The food, the drinks, the people, the space, they all come together to create that experience. What I hope guests take away from a night with us isn’t just about taste. It’s how they were welcomed, how they were made to feel, and how at home they felt in the space and with the team. That, to me, is what truly matters. We didn’t build a temple to gastronomy, we built a unique social hub that, hopefully, captures the Lisbon of today.