On the top floor of El Corte Inglés in Lisbon is El Mar, the new restaurant by chef Kiko Martins. A space where the interior design becomes a story, inviting us to navigate between the Portuguese coast and the shores of Rio de Janeiro, in a visual and emotional tribute to the chef’s roots, a mixture of Portugal and Brazil.
The project, signed by Alejandro Cateto and his studio Cateto Cateto, builds a sensitive and enveloping scenography. From the patterns of the cushions, which evoke the curves of the Carioca beaches, to the tiles – with their characteristic range of whites and blues – that anchor the Portuguese memory, each element articulates a fluid dialogue between shores. On the walls, the silhouettes of sailors and sails embrace us, gently guiding us towards this maritime universe, where the sea is not only the context, but the symbolic protagonist.
The entire envelope of the space is made of wood, creating a warm, enveloping atmosphere reminiscent of the interior cabins of a sailing ship. Of this sailboat that takes us on a voyage between two continents, both aesthetically and culinary. An intimate sensation, as if we were embarked on an ocean voyage, with the sea on the horizon and design as the rudder.
The materiality, the warmth of the wood and a colour palette that alternates between the blues of the ocean and the golden tones of the sun – or rather the sunset – reinforce this dreamlike atmosphere. Above all, the light: Marset’s Dipping Light luminaires, suspended as if they were hanging from fishing rods, not only complete the scene with a Mediterranean wink, but also play at being the setting sun, multiplying in the reflections of the windows as night falls.
El Mar is not just a restaurant, it is a scenographic and sensorial experience. A space where design tells a story: that of a chef who crosses oceans with his recipes… and now also with this, his space.