Tradition and bonhomie in Lisbon
Ritalinos, a restaurant in the heart of the Portuguese capital with the city in its heart
Meals conjure memories, just read Marcel Proust or the food writer Laurie Colwin. And recollections are often connected to eating. A memorable meal can capture the spirit of a place.
So it is at Ritalinos, a small, second-generation restaurant straddling Lisbon’s central Estrela and Campo de Ourique neighborhoods that has become a local institution firmly established in the community and its palate.
I remember my first meal there in 2022, of peixe-galo (John Dory fish), crisp white wine and moist bolo de laranja (orange sponge cake), as well as the unusually gracious welcome of owner Luís Catalino. I moved to Lisbon the following year and lunch at Ritalinos at least twice a week has become a tradition for my husband and me.
The menu includes outstanding versions of dishes home cooks have had on rotation for generations: porco preto (acorn-fed pork from the Alentejo region) and ervilhas (pea stew dotted with sausage, topped by a poached egg). Farm-to-table ingredients include seasonal vegetables and fruit from the huerta (kitchen garden) of Luís’s parents: jewel-toned persimmons, fragrant lemons, green and coral-hued squash and pumpkins, fresh favas picked a few hours before being shelled and transformed into a satisfying stew, cabbage leaves large enough to serve as umbrellas.
Peixinhos da horta (little fish from the garden), a classic starter of lightly breaded crisp green beans, may have influenced the invention of tempura, given that Portuguese merchants were the first Europeans to reach Japan in 1543. The provenance of this treat may be best argued over glasses of chilled Vinho Verde.
Pudim da avó (grandmother’s egg custard) is more than “Portuguese flan”: Even to this writer, a Cuban brought up on homemade flan, it’s unparalleled. Vintage dessert plates with equestrian and rural scenes echoing the azulejos (tiles) enlivening building exteriors and interiors across Portugal add to the charm.
Catalino’s parents Maria Helena da Costa Subral and Joaquim Catalino founded the restaurant in 1985 and passed down to their son their time-tested recipes now flawlessly executed by a dynamic duo in the kitchen, neither from a culinary background. Adilson de Jesus Gonçalves Oliveira has been with the restaurant for more than 10 years. Paulo (affectionately known as Paulinho) Jorge Sequeira Almeida, formerly a semi-professional footballer, worked at the restaurant in 2012-2014, returning in 2021.
Catalino refers to the restaurant as his “first house.” What’s now a small private dining room was once his boyhood bedroom. He remembers standing on a stool as a 6-year-old to make espresso, and reminisces about watching his parents host, when he learned the value of “embracing people.”
Six months before the Covid epidemic, Catalino took over. Keeping the business afloat required numerous pivots in addition to “leading with the heart,” he says. “Bem-vindo” signifies more than “welcome.” He conveys that it’s good you’re here, the dining room is better for your presence.
Over lunch last month at Ritalinos, I caught up with a Portuguese friend whose family also runs a restaurant. “Too often, when the business goes well, I see it scaling up until it loses its character and excellence,” she said. Not here. Ritalinos is firmly rooted in place, and, in Catalino’s words, the “deep memories and connections” each dish evokes.
Ritalinos
Rua do Possolo 2, 1350-046 Lisboa
+351 21 395 2496
www.facebook.com/restauranteritalinos
Felicia Gonzalez was born in Cuba. An alumna of the Hedgebrook Writers Retreat, she has received numerous awards, including artists’ grants to produce the chapbook Recollection Graffiti. She is currently working on a novel to be titled Swimming in Mercury.