◆ To begin, could you give us a short introduction about yourself and how your journey in hospitality started?

My journey began in hotels in 2000, where I started learning the discipline and structure of true hospitality. I am one of the “old-fashioned” GMs who started their career in Food & Beverage, this outstanding area in the hotel business, which is, in my opinion, the most energetic and motivating part of running a hotel – Restaurants & Bars.

I´ve worked at two Four Seasons hotels, in Lisbon & Geneva, places I'll never forget, on how they were important for my hospitality and service knowledge. Also, in other parts of the world, in Brazil, where I had 10 fantastic years, I've managed, as a General Manager, several hotel operations such as a Relais & Chateaux (Ponta dos Ganchos Resort), Belmond Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, and Tivoli Mofarrej in São Paulo. Back in Portugal, as a regional managing director, I've managed eleven hotels within several hotel brands.

After twenty years working in Hotels, and after a deep reflection, I decided to take a new step in my life, to quit and start my own business, doing what I am more passionate about: restaurants. I've put all my “skin in the game” (all my savings) and, together with a bank loan, I took my first step when I bought Café de São Bento. My plan was – and is – to expand this brand institution (without losing its soul and character) and also open new concepts. It’s what I've been doing for the last four years, and I couldn’t be happier and more energized to continue this new journey.  

Today, leading São Bento Hospitality Group, I still wake up with the same motivation: creating places where people feel good, where memories happen, and where the experience is always worth returning to. I’ve always been drawn to places with life – dining rooms buzzing, people connecting, that feeling that something special is happening around the table.
 

◆ If you had to describe Grupo São Bento in just three words, what would they be?

Hospitality. Heritage. Soul.
 

◆ From Café de São Bento to Bougain, Snob, and Corleone, how would you describe the identity and philosophy that tie all your restaurants together?

I am passionate about building restaurants with identity – places that don’t try to be everything to everyone but instead are strong enough to be themselves.

What ties them together is our respect for tradition, our obsession with doing things properly, and our belief that hospitality is about emotion, not trends. Each concept has its own personality, but behind them all is the same DNA: quality without shortcuts, service with heart, and spaces where people genuinely enjoy being.