About the Chef
Welcome to my tasty little page. I’m Alexandra, the co-founder, head chef and heart behind Sebze Lisboa- and if you ask my team, the lead mess maker.
I’m a California native who took my Modern Literature degree around the world (as soon as I had it in my hand), and explored everywhere I could on a kindergarten teacher and freelance writer’s salary. During my stay in Istanbul, I fell in love not only with my husband, but with the culture, the deep appreciation and rituals around food and with the art of hosting. When I moved to Portugal I knew that I wanted to try my hands at something new in life, so Utku and I founded Sebze Lisboa.
What started as weekends selling jarred dips and our favorite mezzes at farmer’s markets quickly transformed into something we hadn’t predicted. Sebze grew into a project where we could share our incredible experiences we had traveling the world with our growing community in Lisbon. Our menu slowly transformed into a living story where the characters (ingredients and flavors) from past countries lived-in could meet the new faces around our table.
Through the spectrum of adventures I’ve had, I’ve consistently found that food is our chance to connect to the place we’re in as well as remember and honor the places we’ve been. I love that a simple meal allows you to invite friends and family to ‘travel’ with you through these spaces. For me, cooking has become the way I ground myself in the changing seasons, express my gratitude for the diversity of culture in this world and share my passion with you.
I always tell those at my table that cooking is more than just a service, it is a relationship of trust between myself and my guests. It is my honor to have the privilege to be trusted by others to choose a menu, pick specialized ingredients and prepare it with honesty and care. What I plan for a meal directly affects the way that you feel and that is a great responsibility to hold.
With each event I participate in I hope to create shared meals where others have a moment to pause in their day, connect to those beside and across from them and honor what a privilege it is to be here, in this delicious story we call life.