It came as a surprise when, at the beginning of the year, Pedro Pena Bastosone of the most famous Portuguese chefs, judge of Master Chef and, at the time, responsible for the starred restaurant Cura, announced his departure from work at the Ritz space to participate in a new project. Over the last few months, the new project has been sown, watered and, since September – pardon the pun – has become the Broto restaurant, located at number 20A of Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, in Baixa-Chiado, central Lisbon.
“Broto arose from the ambition of achieving a name that, deep down, would help us express my cuisine in the best way, in the most genuine way. We thought it was a word that is closely linked to the idea of roots and Broto is a restaurant built on my personal roots. It’s a name closely associated with the field and the act of giving birth to something, of creating something new”, explains the chef, who received the report from DN for dinner at their newly opened restaurant.
Since his announcement of Cura’s departure, a few months before the 2025 Michelin Gala, where the house he ran for five years renewed its one-star status in the most relevant gastronomic distinction, Pena Bastos said that the new restaurant would be more accessible and democratic. Didn’t lie: without trying to implement a menu fine-diningthe chef focused on “the flavors of childhood, the smells of home and the simplicity of timeless dishes”, as the restaurant’s concept presents.