El Mar Restaurant Lisbon photos, Portuguese cafe interior design, São Sebastião architecture
El Mar Restaurant in Lisbon
14 April 2026
Architecture: Cateto Cateto
Location: El Corte Inglés in Lisbon, Avenida António Augusto de Aguiar, 31, 1069-413 Lisboa – São Sebastião area, Portugal
Architectural photographer: Ricardo Oliveira Alves
El Mar Restaurant, Portugal
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 paterns 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 silhouetes 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 palete 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 seting 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.
El Mar Restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal – Property Information
Atelier de Arquitectura . Architecture Office: Cateto Cateto- https://atelier-realite.pt/
Creative Director: Alejandro Cateto
Team: Daniel Rodríguez Pérez, Cristian de los Reyes García
Contract Project specialist: Tailoring Deco
Client: Comer O Mundo
Photography: Ricardo Oliveira Alves
El Mar Restaurant, Lisbon, Portugal restaurant images / information received 140426
Location: Lisbon Region, Portugal, southwestern Europe.
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