The concept is based on the main Scandinavian dish – smorrebrod or open toast. The traditional portion has been generously increased and is offered to guests along with a cup of specialty coffee and glass of natural wine.
“Flat” is a dream project of the Russian gastro-enthusiast and the founder of the cafe – Varvara Kroz. In 2017 she traveled across Scandinavia. In one small port town called Bergen, in the market, she saw smorrebrod – a huge piece of rye bread with a lot of shrimp topping. She completely fell in love with this image of a Scandinavian simple but at the same time exceptional dish. This is how the headliner menu was born. In 2021, Varvara moved from St. Petersburg to Portugal and thought: why not open a Scandinavian cafe in the center in Lisbon?
This is how the new “Flat Cafe” appeared in the heart of sunny Lisbon – next to Elevador da Bica.
Design of the cafe is made in the style of Scandinavian minimalism. The interior is simple, ascetic, but tasteful. Nevertheless, due to candles and hanging lamps, here you can feel a unique atmosphere of comfort, just like at home. Even the name itself evokes a sense of warmth.
“Flat Cafe” is a place inspired by nordic recipes and New nordic kitchen philosophy. The kitchen takes inspiration from northern recipes, but adapts them to local tastes. Local products are used to the maximum in the kitchen: from Azores salmon and Atlantic tuna, to microgreens and farm vegetables, fruits and roots. Moreover, all the recipes are as northern as possible in their essence. Following the New nordic philosophy, the kitchen adheres to the principle of zero waste and seasonality.
Smorrebrods or Scandinavian open toasts are the centerpiece of the menu. You’ll find 7 of them in the menu! Each Scandinavian toast is based on rye bread with various grains and seeds, and on top there is a huge hat of toppings: such as home-salted salmon or gravlax, roast beef, vegan version with carrot and chickpea hummus. Besides traditional nordic recipes you can try toasts with Portuguese spirit. For example, toast with octopus or tuna tartar. All descriptions are so tasty and unusual that it's easier to come and try them all!
In addition to Scandinavian open toasts, the menu includes laconic salads with farm vegetables and homemade dressing, side dishes, several breakfast items that are served all day long and homemade desserts. During the weekend the team serves huge brunches in nordic style.
Specialty coffee and natural wine are offered to complement breakfast, lunch or dinner. The coffee is ordered from the 80plus roasters in Barcelona. In drinks menu you’ll find espresso classic and alternative. In the future, the owner plans to add several lots of coffee from different European roasters so that real coffee geeks could always find something new for them. Natural wine is ordered from well-known suppliers “Os Goliardos” and is poured by glass and offered by bottle. Here you can order local and European producers.
For sure you can order all of the items with home delivery by Uber Eats, so Scandinavia is closer to Portugal than ever.
Average check: 12 euro
Address: Travessa do Cabral, 36 Working hours: Wednesday-Monday: 10:00-17:00 Instagram: @flat.cafe.lisbon
