Gal. The vegan croissant café also fights waste
13/08/2024
A vegan, specialty coffee shop that fights food waste every day, has opened in Anjos, Lisbon. Welcome to Gal. The team at Too Good to
In three months, Marcella set up the space, created the menu and opened a restaurant. There was only one thing on her mind: plants would be the protagonists of Folha Bistrô.
It’s just like at home. You can get food without a reservation, a sofa to enjoy every bite while you rest, freshly brewed coffee and vibes that make you want to stay a little longer.
Folha Bistrô has been slowly opening until now, showing itself to Lisbon as a place where everyone can sit at the table. Although it is mostly plant-based, there are also dishes with meat, “but where that meat is just a detail on the dish,” Marcella Caetano, the owner of this bistro in Mouraria, told Peggada.
The graphic designer and herbalist confesses that opening a restaurant was never in her plans. “But life happened,” he says.
She worked as a cook for seven years in Spain, but in Portugal she never felt it was an area with fair salaries. She then devoted herself to herbs, which she mixed with precision in little medicinal bottles that she sold in markets. It was precisely at these markets that she got to know most of the brands that are now part of Folha’s menu, from Muka‘s vegan cheeses to Do Bosque‘s liqueurs and A.M.O Brewery‘s beer, always giving priority to everything made by women.
A restaurant that thrives on seasonality
Folha’s menu changes at least every season. But there are details that change depending on what arrives. “We have strawberries already, I know, but I’m waiting for them to peak. On that day, there will definitely be strawberry shortcake,” she says, eager to put into practice the ideas she comes up with.
The menu isn’t long, but it’s precise. Since it’s part of the Hotel Boutique Patio, it serves breakfast to guests and non-guests, with lunch and snack options throughout the day. “Here we don’t have the lunchtime boom or the certainty that Saturday will be busier than Tuesday. We serve food at all hours, because we’re in demand at all hours,” says Marcella.
Folha opened in November, initially testing breakfasts for guests, then opening this option to the public and now, with an established concept, for meals throughout the day. “We’ve taken advantage of these first few months to listen to customer feedback and understand what they’re looking for,” he says. “And that’s why we decided to have some animal ingredients, since we could see how happy some people were to be able to seat a heterogeneous group at the table.”
Even so, the menu is always plant-based. But plants aren’t just vegetables here. Marcella’s herbalist streak means that all of Folha’s dishes come with a floral touch.
Peggada visited the restaurant on a sunny day, taking advantage of the warm weather for a light, Spring-flavored meal.
The couvert is made of qualiity broa which Marcella struggled to find, goat’s butter and a jam made with Port wine. The journey continues through the Middle East with a plate of labneh, chermoula (an aromatic and fresh sauce), and crudites in rainbow tones thanks to the yellow and pink beets.
Main courses include Portuguese quinoa, cranberries, roasted vegetables, feta cheese and, of course, fresh herbs, as well as grilled mushrooms in miso butter, served with lots of greens, none of which are the most conventional.
Dessert is served in a very sweet glass of pannacotta with prickly pear jam. The flavors of the jam change from time to time and Marcella has even made several jars with the tangerines picked up outside the restaurant.
Remember when we talked about flowery accents? They didn’t fail to appear and can be found both in the butter we spread on the bread and in the red fruit soda that fills our glass. “I don’t know how to work without plants,” confesses Marcella. That’s why, in addition to the dishes, the space is also decorated with what she picks when she finds something beautiful growing in the ground.
A sustainable Folha
“I hate waste,” admits Marcella. That’s why Folha cooks in thoughtful portions so that there are no leftovers. “But, if there are any, we distribute them among the staff and we’ve even given them to people who live on the street.”
Here the food is used in its entirety – “today’s cauliflower soup is made with all the cauliflower, including the leaves” – and the imagination dictates the rest. “This week I wanted to sieve a soup to make it more velvety and there was a lot of residue left over. I took it and made some dumplings for lunch that were delicious. Soup cakes,” she says, laughing. Soon, Marcella wants to set up a composter to give another chance to what she can no longer use any other way.
As well as sourcing its ingredients from local producers, Folha is made up of other sustainability details. The coffee cups are from Reshape, a project that helps integrate ex-convicts, and the rug was handmade by the creative hub “A avó veio trabalhar” (made up of women over 65).
The restaurant also hosts events and the walls can be used for exhibitions.
The timetable is always being adjusted to the flow and the seasons, but as of now the doors are open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8am to 6pm. Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. On Sundays it is open from 9am to 3pm and Monday is a rest day.
Zomato and Peggada have teamed up to launch a new Eco and Sustainable Collection.
Zomato is the most widely used restaurant discovery app in Portugal. The updated content includes restaurant menus, photos, addresses and other information, users can also rate and give feedback on the restaurants. It is the most complete app for those looking for options for eating out, take-away service, reservations, contactless solutions for restaurants, and recently launched the Delivery service – the new Zomato app.
Marta Cerqueira is from Minho and vegetarian. Luckily, she lives in Lisbon, where there is more tofu than sarrabulho. She has been a journalist for over 15 years, the last of which writing about food and sustainability. Now, out of the newsroom, she continues to write whenever she can, be it in magazines, journals, post its, or on her Instagram page, which she uses to share a life divided between being a mom-person-foodie-traveler. Still, she created Peggada so she could write about what doesn't fit in a magazine, journal, post it or Instagram: a better world.
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