For a private dinner in Sintra we cook a menu written for your table specifically — a set number of courses, agreed with you in advance, prepared in your kitchen or in ours and served at your table. It suits anniversaries, family occasions, small celebrations at a rented quinta, and dinners where you would rather host than book a restaurant. Numbers usually run from four to around thirty guests.
We start with a conversation: the occasion, who is coming, what they don't eat, whether you want the meal to be a talking point or a quiet backdrop. From there we propose a menu — typically a set of shared starters, a main with two or three accompaniments, and a dessert — drawing on Mediterranean cooking and our own family Slavic recipes. Nothing goes on the menu that we cannot cook properly in your setting, so the plan depends on whether there is a working oven, hob and cold storage. Wine and drink pairings can be arranged or you can supply your own.
Rented quintas and houses in Colares, São Pedro or the hills above the town often have beautiful kitchens with very little equipment. We arrive with our own pans, chafing gear, service ware, linen and cold storage, work with what the house has, and clean everything to the state we found it. If the kitchen genuinely cannot support the menu, we prepare the technical parts in advance and finish on site.
A chef plus one or two service staff is the usual configuration for a dinner of ten to twenty. Courses come out on a timeline agreed with you, so a toast or a speech is not interrupted by a hot plate arriving. We clear as we go, handle the washing up, and leave once coffee is on the table — or stay through the evening if the dinner turns into a party.
Yes, this is most of what we do in Sintra. We check the kitchen and access with you or the owner beforehand and bring whatever the house lacks.
Yes — those guests get a properly composed version of each course, not a side dish reassembled as a main.
Tell us the date, the number of guests and the style — we'll send a tailored proposal.
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