The Chef
João Diogo Saloio — Chef at Mãe Restaurante
Chef and co-founder of Mãe — Cozinha com Amor, in Lisbon. Born in Casével, in the Ribatejo, he reinterprets Portuguese family recipes with national produce and a charcoal Josper oven.
João Diogo Saloio is the chef and one of the founders of Mãe — Cozinha com Amor, a project born in Lisbon with two childhood friends. Born in Casével, Santarém, he grew up close to the culinary traditions of the Ribatejo and found in cooking a form of expression deeply tied to family memories and Portuguese comfort food.
His path didn't start at the stove: his first training was in Management and Marketing. But the kitchen spoke louder, and after working in renowned hotels and restaurants in Lisbon and Santarém, he took over the kitchen at Mãe.
His approach is built on reinterpreting traditional Portuguese cuisine, with a special focus on family recipes and homemade flavours. In dishes inspired by the cooking of mothers and grandmothers, he champions the produce and the techniques that preserve authenticity — served with a contemporary presentation.
Demanding and meticulous, he cooks with memory, emotion and identity: turning simple dishes into experiences of comfort and personal connection. That vision gave birth to Mãe — a tribute to the founders' mothers, and to the mothers of everyone who sits at the table.
“Cooking with memory, emotion and identity.”
The dishes that define him
Oven-baked duck rice
The Ribatejo classic nobody lets us take off the menu, finished in the oven until the crust turns crisp.
Sirloin in the Josper
Grilled over charcoal, with seasonal salad and fries.
Corvina and shrimp rice
Soupy fish rice, cooked to order.
Codfish à Brás with cecina
The Portuguese classic with a touch of cured cecina.
Grandmother's chocolate mousse
The chef's grandmother's recipe, exactly as it was.