Luso will ‘deliver the flavours of the Atlantic Iberian coastline with a focus on exceptional, well-sourced ingredients’.
Owner MJMK says the rebrand of the space will see the food transition from being “chef-led” to being “more generally inspired by modern Portuguese cuisine”.
Described as being ‘shaped by sea, land, and centuries-old wood fire cooking techniques’, Carreira - whose job title is consultant executive chef - has created a menu that includes the likes of Dorset clams a bulhão pato; prego (steak slider sandwich), brown butter, garlic; spider crab tartare, served in shell; and lobster rice, citrus and mi cuit salad.
With a cooking CV that includes top Northern Spain restaurants Asador Etxebarri and Mugaritz, the Portuguese-born Carreira has headed a number of high-profile London restaurants including Londrino and - most recently - The Sea, The Sea.
He is also an alumnus of Mendes’ influential Bethnal Green restaurant Viajante, which operated from 2010 to 2014.
In a video posted on Instagram this morning (20 August), Mendes confirmed he was leaving the restaurant four years after launching it in partnership with restaurant group MJMK.
Mendes says he is looking to open a new London project - presumably a restaurant - soon with more details to be announced in due course.
The chef - who operates two restaurants in Portugal and is a consultant at Kent’s The Rose - also said that he was looking to open Lisboeta ‘in Lisbon and beyond’.
“Lisboeta as we know it will be coming to an end this month. We’ve had an amazing ride and it’s fantastic to see the love and support from our patrons from the day we have opened our doors. I feel proud that we have helped to cement Portuguese food here in London and beyond.”
Mendes went on to thank MJMK founders Jake Kasumov and Marco Mendes and wish his former employee Carreira well.
Yesterday, MJMK announced that Lisboeta will close this month ahead of a refurbishment that will create a ‘brand new dining experience’.
Set across three floors, Lisboeta opened in Marylebone in 2022 and is described as Mendes’ love letter to Portugal. The restaurant was named One to Watch at the 2022 National Restaurant Awards and is currently ranked at number 93 in the list of the UK’s Top 100 Restaurants.
The move comes as part of a shakeup of MJMK’s Portuguese restaurant portfolio. Last month its Portuguese restaurant brand Casa do Frango began what it also described as a ‘new chapter’ with a refreshed menu and design created to extend the restaurant’s reach beyond its Algarvian roots.