“Tell me a bit about yourself” is a tricky and cheeky request, which most of us struggle with, particularly in job interviews. António didn’t hesitate: “I’m a Portuguese actor”. We met at Canela Café, in Covent Garden, where he has been working as a cook, since he moved to London 9 months ago, with fellow…
Rita Maia: The Conspirateur
Rita Maia is a household face in London’s Portuguese community. She, along with José Cardoso, shine through as the most dynamic duo in town, under the trademark The Portuguese Conspiracy. Their vision is “conquering London’s stomachs and spirits” by offering products online, curating music gigs – all beautifully presented – and also a supper club,…
Maria Vermelho: The Urban Explorer
On a gloomy December day, just a stone’s throw away from the capital’s financial hub, we meet Maria Vermelho: “Home is where the beach is”, she nostalgically confesses, thinking of her Lisbon hometown. What brings her, and keeps her, here then? She is studying for her BA in Business Administration full-time at Hult International Business…
Susana Gifford & The Portuguese Mafia
Graduating from Economics and after a 6-month internship in São Paulo, Susana joined the market intelligence giant International Data Corporation (IDC). This was 8 years ago. Some might consider her a “mobile phone expert”, she mentions. But she is too humble for this self-entitlement. Susana wasn’t the only one starting her career with the help…
Sara Soares: (copy)writing her future
Having studied in an English-speaking school and with family ties to London, Sara was a regular visitor to the capital. “I blame London for never having saved up any money as a young adult. Every time I had some spare cash, I would spend it on a plane ticket here.” At 28 years old, at…
Rita Fevereiro: A journey towards openness
London changes people. It’s brutal, fast-paced, and gloomy but it’s also open, fair and honest. Rita took all of it in since moving here 6 years ago. “I look back, at some of the things I said to my friends when I was younger and I’d never say those things now. London made me a…
Cláudio Cardoso: The Chef
[VIDEO] Cláudio was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to Portuguese parents. When he was 6 years old, his family decided to move back to Lisbon. Since a young age he’s been interested in food. While growing up, he used to spend his summers in the North of Portugal with his grandparents and he remembers that…
Mariana Degener: Miss Journalist
Mariana has consistently managed to juggle her career and education. At university, she regarded as important – and necessary – to hold a part-time job. “I can’t stay put. I didn’t have a moment to waste, but invariably handled to fit in a coffee with friends.”, she specified. In Portugal, graduating in Journalism didn’t (and…
Vanessa Dinis: The Chicken Run
Vanessa has been in London for 7 years now, working in Information Security. She couldn’t tell us more about her job, otherwise… She promised it wasn’t for MI5, or that she was the new Jane Bond. We’ll never know. When submitting her application, she assumed to be “punching above her weight” and was caught by…
David Martinho: A long-term plan
As any London immigrant tale goes, David’s starts with “I wasn’t planning on staying here for long but…”. He came for an internship but stayed for what are now eight years of a solid community, stable career and a family-to-be. However, and diverging from other stories, the plan is to stay even longer. “Going back…
Henrique Maia: Photographing England’s sights
Henrique has the coolest camera I have seen: an old school Yashica-mat, which he dearly named “Chica”. It draws some attention, even though we are meeting in front of a photographic institution, Calumet Photographic, a rental store, where he worked for 4 years. He currently tours the country as a commercial buildings’ photographer and has…
Tânia Serrano: The dating coach
Tânia is hyped and energetic, works three jobs and doesn’t even drink coffee. From planning events with the Queen’s cousin to bartending 12-hour shifts, she is “up for anything”. For example, she is currently coaching men on how to be more successful in dates. But events is what she is passionate about. She calls London…
LITTLE PORTUGAL 