I really want to jealously guard this find, like, really. It’s actually how I feel about Portugal in general – it’s so precious, so humble, and so beautiful that you don’t want to share it in fear that you’ll ruin it (much like wearing a perfect white t shirt, no?). But I can’t take credit for discovering Uma Casa, so I suppose it’s not my secret to keep.
My best friend’s dad, Karl, who I’ve known my whole life and is basically my uncle, clips articles from the paper he thinks I’ll like and save them for when I come over. I know, it’s just too adorable. He and I share a love of Portugal, I out of filial piety and he because, well, he’s a class act and no dummy. He’s given me books, Fado CD’s, articles, and now I owe my favorite restaurant this side of the Atlantic to him as well.
The Before Times
Back in 2017, Karl clipped this article from the San Francisco Chronicle announcing that Portuguese food had officially arrived in the City.
I was titillated. Before Uma Casa, all we had was a three square-inch inset on the back of a plastic diner menu somewhere on Polk Street, and even that got nixed a few years back. So Rodrigo and I went in 2017 for my 30th birthday and were dazzled, and TWO YEARS rolled by before we went again – this time, with my sister for my 32nd birthday. And it was just as good as I remembered.
If Uma Casa’s creator Chef Telmo Faria made posters, I’d hang one over my bed, he’s such a hero. I mean, probably not of him, but maybe of his bacalhau.
Get your mind out of the gutter, friends. It’s just cod.
Point being, Faria saved the City from a long drought of Lusitanian food. I mean, if I wanted cod balls, I had to drive all the way to San Jose. San Jose, people. That’s like … thirty minutes. Three days if there’s traffic.
Uma Casa feels like a boujie version of those million little nooks throughout the historical districts in Lisbon. I say “boujie” because the lights all work, the floor is intact, and there are windows.
On the Food
The food though … oh, the food. I’m not a food blogger, but I’ll try my best: it’s Portuguese home cooking made FANCY. Think crusty bread and buttery cheese and orange-infused olives; tender, lightly fried shrimp cakes that frankly should be rated at least NC-17; salty bacalhau so earthy it sends you back to the Motherland in a topsy-turvy time and space warp of salt water and fragrant sand; sauces that hit every. Single. Zone. of your mouth, front to back, back to front (jack that rating up to XXX), and on and on and on. There’s an attention to detail and a love for the cuisine that you just can’t get anywhere else – and which I happen to think would hold it’s own in Lisbon itself. It’s that good.
It’s also family style, which means you can dig into everything. Here’s some footage of what we ordered, or most of it (just FYI, I had trouble loading the video in Chrome, but no problem in Safari):
Oh, you like wine? You won’t find any of that French and Spanish riffraff here – all the wine and much of the liquor is Portuguese. Before I get angry letters about calling French and Spanish wines “riffraff,” consider: 1. I’m Portuguese and clearly biased; and 2. I know NOTHING about wine so the real riffraff is, ladies and gentlemen, my opinion. Trust me, you won’t miss those other European weirdos and their sub-par attempts at making alcohol. Again, an uneducated opinion from someone from Madeira, an island that decided wine was for weaklings and needed help from a good dose of brandy, 3 months of maniacal heating and cooling in the bilge of a ship, and purposely exposing it to oxygen to make it palatable. And yes, they do have madeira wine at Uma Casa because they’re not barbarians.
All that being said – Portugal has fantastic wines, a good selection of which you’ll find at Uma Casa. The staff knows the list well, what pairs with what, etc and they will not steer you wrong. We were recommended the Quinta da Roriz ”Prazo” Douro and it was so good that I’m pretty sure we’re all immortal after drinking it (bulletproof logic, amirite?).
The Dress
A note on my OOTN, because after all, this is a FASHION blog, right? I realized that I’ve been missing out on fitted sheath dresses when I discovered this number by Elliatt. Really, the dress does all the work (that is, all the work that your Spanx aren’t doing). The fit was perfection, the color spot-on teal, and there was even a wrap feature and cut-out at the waist that we didn’t get to photograph completely. I climbed onto my mega heels because, hey, it was my birthday dinner and I get to wear ridiculous shoes, OK? I also recycled those crazy earrings I wore last week to add a bit of quirk to the whole thing – you can see them up close in this post.
I may have dressed fancy, but this place is fairly low-key – only wear six-inch stilettos if the mood strikes you. Jeans are totally fine! Just come hungry and with a DD to get your cute tipsy self back home safe.
My next goal is to go to one of their Fado nights, when they have a prix fixe menu and live Fado music – doesn’t that sound sensational?
love,
Stig.
