“Here, the food is delicious, damn it”, says the executive chef of B-Life Kitchen, Nelson Soares, as he shares a chia pudding with Time Out Cascais. “If it’s not tasty, it’s not even worth it”, he continues. The phrase – perhaps without the swear words – serves as a mantra for the new restaurant from the chef who first made his name in Rio de Janeiro and later in Cascais with the Italian restaurant Sult. In the space he now leads at Marina de Cascais, the focus is on serving healthy food, but there is something even more important: flavour.
B-Life Kitchen was born as an extension of the B-Life health centre, also located in the Marina, a space dedicated to integrative medicine and longevity. The restaurant’s concept is to show that it is possible to find a balance between nutrition and the pleasure of eating. “My partners asked me to set up the B-Life kitchen. The initial idea was to create a small school and run workshops on healthy gastronomy”, says Nelson Soares. “But the space was small, so we ended up opening next door. It started as a café but evolved into something much bigger”.
The connection between the restaurant and the clinic is literal: menu decisions are made in collaboration with clinic director Joana Costa and head of nutrition Sara Felix. “Nothing I create passes without their approval,” explains the chef. “We don’t use sugar or industrial gluten”, but they never lose sight of the essential: “The concept cannot overshadow flavour. I start with the taste and then figure out the way to get there”, says the chef from Rio.
B-Life was a major challenge. After all, Nelson has an Italian background and an established career in Rio de Janeiro, where he leads Sult – also located in central Cascais – a restaurant awarded the Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide and featured in 50 Best Discovery.
B-Life came at the right time, when the chef himself completely changed his eating habits due to a health issue. Although the project required rethinking his approach to cooking, it also became a help. “I lost 45 kilos. It was a nutritional re-education. I realised that healthy food doesn’t have to be bland. Here, everything we do has to be tasty”.
To help him achieve this mission, Nelson chose Paola Leal Braga, a colleague from Sult and a pastry chef, to run the kitchen day to day. She had previously worked with him in Rio de Janeiro and spent time in Italy, even collaborating with the renowned Massimo Bottura. “Since much of what we do here involves more chemistry than classical cooking, there’s nothing better than a pastry chef”, he explains. “Pastry is more chemistry than gastronomy”. Paola brought a creative vision and technical mastery that is evident in every dish, especially the desserts. “It’s been a constant study – understanding how to substitute ingredients, learning the function of each element. Sometimes it goes wrong, sometimes it works perfectly. But the result is always delicious”.
The menu is a laboratory of textures, ideas, and experiences. Among the highlights are the protein scones with sheep’s milk ricotta and roasted tomato (€8), a lighter take on the classic British treat. “It’s very soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, made with natural yogurt and Barbela flour, an ancient stone-milled wheat,” explains Paola. The chicken salad (€18) – created by chance in a home improvisation, inspired by the fresh “lunch boxes” they used to take to the beach in Brazil – is one of the most requested dishes, featuring a yogurt base, asparagus, mustard sprouts, walnuts, chia, and flaxseed. “It’s a light and tangy salad, perfect to take to the beach”, says Nelson. Equally notable is the shrimp salad (€24), marinated in ginger, shoyu, or Chinese vinegar.
Another house pride is the tuna preserve (€22), prepared with onion, garlic, coriander, and tamarind, served with wholemeal sourdough bread. “I’m passionate about preserved tuna”, says Paola. “I wanted to make my own, using sustainable ingredients and intense flavour. The result is incredible.” The relationship with local producers is another cornerstone of the project: the restaurant works with the long-standing Cascais fisherman Carlos Ambrósio and with Quinta do Pisão, a municipal project, for the supply of organic vegetables. “If we can have less impact on the supply chain, we’ll try”, emphasizes Nelson.
In the hot dishes, creativity continues to shine. There is sweet potato gnocchi (€16), toasted and served with smoked tomato sauce and olive tapenade, and a mushroom tart (€12) made with a chickpea base and a cream inspired by Basque tart, creamy and light. “It’s one of our best-sellers. People love it”, says Paola.
The biggest challenges at B-Life are the desserts. Creating sweets without sugar that are still delicious required numerous experiments to find the right combination of ingredients and textures. Some results of this “alchemy” include chocolate cake (€8), panna cotta (€6), and chia puddings (€8).
Nelson Soares makes sure the meal ends with a reminder that, despite all the healthy options, they don’t make people lose weight like “magic”. “Some people come here and ask which dish has fewer calories or what will make them gain less weight. I tell them the lowest-calorie option is water – but even that can make you bloated. We don’t want customers thinking they can lose weight magically. But we also don’t want any dish to be our enemy. We have to experiment until we find a balance between flavour and health”.
Beyond coffee and meals, B-Life Kitchen also has a grocery section, selling selected products: from Camellia teas (aged in port wine barrels) and specialty coffees to wines. “The idea is for customers to take a little of this philosophy home”, explains Nelson.
In the future, the chef plans to expand the concept and offer conscious eating workshops. But above all, he wants to keep proving that healthy food can be addictive. “I don’t see anyone doing what we’re doing here”, he says with a laugh. “And it’s not because we’re special. It’s because we discover everything together, every day. And the result is amazing”.
Marina de Cascais 53B (Cascais) Tue-Sun 09.00-19.00