When it comes to life in the kitchen, the São Paulo native Fred Frank has the experience to talk about the topic. “It’s been 34 years in this life”, he tells DN after receiving the report for dinner at his newest establishment in Lisbon, the Almadravawhose partner is Rio de Janeiro Rodrigo Braga. The two had already perfected their partnership at Taberna Meia Porta, in Bairro Alto, and now they take the double to the top of Campo de Santa Clara, in a seafood restaurant with the soul of a tavern and a frontal view of the National Pantheon and the Tagus.
“I do the financial and administrative part. And Fred takes care of the gastronomy“, summarizes Rodrigo, in Lisbon for seven years. “We are passionate about the same things in the world of restaurants, a certain simplicity and informality, but with a lot of attention to the food and products.” It is from this combination that the concept that they once heard about Almadrava and likes to repeat is born: a seafood restaurant without bureaucracy.
“It doesn’t have an aquarium, it doesn’t have a hammer, it doesn’t have a lobster. But it’s a seafood restaurant, it’s seafood, good drinks, everything we like”says Rodrigo, looking at the terrace facing the river, which fills up whenever the weather cooperates. The plan, from the beginning, was to create a place to share seafood, “drink a glass and chat”, without formalities and at a democratic price.
The choice of Campo de Santa Clara was not by chance. The former vegetarian restaurant that operated there was closed when the two partners came across the space. “We fell in love with the place. The pantheon, the sea… we thought: we have to stay here. Especially because it’s very difficult to find good spots in Lisbon”, recalls Rodrigo.
In the kitchen, the discourse follows the logic that accompanies their work. “I don’t complicate our lives. Taberna Meia Porta has always been an honest proposal with a real exchange of ‘it’s worth what it weighs’“, says Fred, ensuring that, in the new restaurant, the logic is the same.
“Here, we tried to bring a choice of products that are fresh, good suppliers, without many mixes or expensive products. This way we managed to reach a pleasant price”, explains the chef. The name of the restaurant, it must be said, refers to the tuna trap system used for centuries in the Mediterranean and the south of the Iberian Peninsula, and, as it could not be otherwise, the fish appears as one of the stars on the menu.