Nuno Mendes (chef)
{{Short description|Portuguese chef (born 1973)}}
Nuno Mendes (born 1973){{cite news|last1=Curtis|first1=Nick|title=Chef who's the cat's whiskers: Nuno Mendes|work=Evening Standard|date=27 March 2013}} is a London-based Portuguese chef, former executive chef at Chiltern Firehouse, London.
Early life
Career
Mendes was trained at the California Culinary Academy in the 1990s, worked at elBulli,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/foodmonthly/futureoffood/story/0,,1969448,00.html |title=Is this the most futuristic pub in Britain? | Compare and buy |publisher=Observer.theguardian.com |date=2011-02-09 |access-date=2014-06-24}} and has worked with Wolfgang Puck, Rocco di Spirito, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.{{cite web|url=http://www.four-magazine.com/articles/182/nuno-mendes |title=Nuno Mendes |publisher=FOUR Magazine |date= |accessdate=2014-06-24}} In 2006, Mendes opened Bacchus, a gastropub in Hoxton, and later opened The Loft Project, from his own apartment in Shoreditch, "where some of the best chefs cooked in front of guests, offering a pioneering and intimate experience".
In 2010, Mendes opened Viajante (Portuguese for "traveller") in Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel, inspired by world cuisines. In its first year it received a Michelin star and was included in the 2013 World's 50 Best Restaurants. One critic said of the restaurant, "Nuno Mendes has brought a taste of El Bulli to the East End".{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/7745517/London-Restaurant-Review-Viajante.html|title=London Restaurant Review: Viajante|last=Williams|first=Zoe|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=2010-05-31|access-date=2018-03-03|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} Giles Coren of The Times referred to Mendes as "every restaurant critic's secret favourite cook".{{cite web|author=Giles Coren Published at 2:47PM, March 8, 2014 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/giles-coren-at-the-chiltern-firehouse-v2prc83xzzv |title=Giles Coren at the Chiltern Firehouse |work=The Times |date=2014-03-08 |access-date=2014-06-24}}
In March 2022, Mendes opened a Portuguese restaurant, Lisboeta on Charlotte Street, London.{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=David |title=Nuno Mendes returns with new restaurant Lisboeta, and this time it's personal |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/restaurants/nuno-mendes-lisboeta-london-new-restaurant-interview-b988386.html |access-date=19 June 2022 |work=Evening Standard |date=16 March 2022}}
Personal life
Selected works
- {{cite book|last1=Mendes|first1=Nuno|last2=Balazs|first2=Andre|title=Chiltern firehouse: the cookbook|location=London|date=2017|ISBN=9781607749936}}
- {{cite book|last=Mendes|first=Nuno|title=Lisboeta: recipes from Portugal's City of Light|location=London|date=2017|ISBN=9781408877012}}
- {{cite book|last=Mendes|first=Nuno|title=My Lisbon: a cookbook from Portugal's City of Light|location=London|date=2018|ISBN=9780399581717}}