Lisbon Confidential is a series of interviews with people who know and love Lisbon. In this section we share their insider tips, favourite places in the city, and “hidden gems” of Lisbon. We ask the same 10 questions to each interviewee and publish their answers verbatim. Should you wish to suggest somebody for this interview, please contact us.
Today’s Lisbon Confidential interview is with Nathalie Costa, manager of the well known Olivier Restaurant, which has two branches located at Rua do Alecrim 23 and also at the Hotel Tivoli Jardim, Rua Júlio César Machado, 7.
Nathalie Costa
1. What’s your connection with Lisbon?
I was born, I study, I was married, I had 2 girls, I had fun, sun, rain all in the center of Lisbon.
2. Why should a tourist visit Lisbon, in your opinion?
The light, the atmosphere, Lisbon has something that no other city has.. the mix of old and new, the mix of generations and traditions.
3. Your favourite Lisbon museum, sight or attraction?
Miradors.. Lisbon is full of miradors where you can see diferents areas of Lisbon.
(Editor’s note: Nathalie is referring to the several viewpoints dotted about the city, and known as miradouros in Portuguese)
4. Do you have a favourite restaurant? If so, why?
Olivier Café! The atmosphere, the food and the service!
5. A favourite bar or cafeteria?
Silk! The most amazing terrace in the world.
6. What is your favourite district of the city and why?
Principe Real and Chiado… I love to walk there, we can start by buying biological vegetables and fruits at Principe Real garden, then have a hot bread in the Portuguese padaria, and then going to Chiado where there is always nice vitrines, art galleries … finishing with a coffee at the Bairro Alto Hotel!
7. Recommend a good night out in Lisbon.
Dining at Olivier Café and going to Silk (walking distance).
8. Tell us your favourite, interesting or unusual Portuguese saying or phrase, and its meaning.
“Não deixes para amanhã o que podes fazer hoje” that means do not leave for tomorow what you can do now. We should have this sentence posted all over Lisbon because Portuguese like to do always things tomorrow or after tomorrow.
9. Given the chance, what would you do to improve Lisbon?
Lisbon is an irregular city, which although this is part of its charm, getting around can be a bit of a challenge. It takes time to cover places and the walk can be very steep and uncomfortable.I would only improve the access to places, introducing more ecologic means of transport to allow visitors to access places more easily and with silent vehicles to preserve the surroundings and truly enjoy the magic tranquility of Lisbon Historical quarters.With Red Tour we tried to the introduce modern and fun ways of visiting the city, using ecologic vehicles (Segways and buggies) to help travelers to get closer to the sights than a bus would, such as narrow streets and other hidden gems.Finishing with all the roadwork hell in the streets and put the calçada cobblestones back in place!
10. Lastly, do you have any insider tips, a hidden gem or little known aspect of Lisbon you can let our readers know about? Or simply a last word of advice for visitors to Lisbon.
Girls, don’t bring high heels to Lisbon! The heels will get stuck in the lovely “calçada”!
Muito obrigado pela entrevista Nathalie! Thanks for taking time out from your incredibly busy schedule to answer our questions.
Our next Lisbon Confidential interview will be with Tatiana Ecetová from Carristur.
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