Who we are

2025
Gastronomic Experience Gira’s Secret Taste Experience
Client: Cristina Ferreira’s Brand #eusouGIRA

The Gira gastronomic experience, crafted by Food Design Lab Lisboa, invites you on a sensory journey that mirrors the brand's core: endless transformation, inclusive beauty, and empowering self-care. Each moment in this adventure draws inspiration from life's natural cycles, awakening all your senses and creating a connection between body, mind, and what we eat. A seasonal, locally-sourced menu evolves with life’s rhythms, showcasing cutting-edge culinary techniques and elegant, meaningful presentations that reflect the ever-changing beauty of existence.

The Gilded Bite is a gastronomic experience created exclusively for the brand Rose Key, in which the menu was designed around the symbolic and aesthetic universe of its jewellery. Each dish was conceived as a sensory extension of the collection — an invitation to taste the brilliance, texture, and emotion evoked by the jewels. Drawing inspiration from precious materials, organic forms, and the stories behind each Rose Key creation, the Food Design Lab developed a menu that transforms gold, stone, and light into ingredients, flavours, and visual compositions. The experience offered a poetic interpretation of luxury — not as extravagance, but as a celebration of detail, time, and the art of feeling. More than just a dinner, The Gilded Bite was a sensory performance where gastronomy and jewellery converged — creating a unique moment of fusion between aesthetics, memory, and pleasure.

A Multisensory Coffee Break Experience designed for IADE, Future Bites is a sensory-driven coffee break designed to stimulate creativity and reflection on the future of food. The experience is structured around five themed acrylic boxes, each representing a different sense—vision, hearing, smell, touch, and taste—through innovative food presentations. From edible terrariums to interactive aromas and textural contrasts, this immersive break engages participants beyond traditional catering. Rooted in sustainability, the menu features seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, reinforcing a connection between gastronomy, design, and sensory exploration.

Developed for the Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa, this exclusive cocktail experience is designed to engage all five senses through carefully curated food and wine pairings. Each element—vision, taste, aroma, touch, and hearing—is represented by a unique combination of ingredients, such as lobster with ginger for vision and goat cheese with cranberries for hearing. This event - a multisensory cocktail experience - not only enhances the gastronomic experience but also highlights the artistic and conceptual synergy between food, wine, and sensory perception, making it a refined and interactive culinary journey.

The project developed for Saludães aimed to highlight rice as a central ingredient in Portuguese cuisine, through a contemporary and inspiring approach. The Food Design Lab was responsible for the development of original recipes, designed for a variety of consumption moments — from everyday family meals to special occasions — with a strong focus on versatility, flavour, and the unique identity of Saludães rice. We led the entire content creation process, including video production, photography, and food styling, ensuring a visual language that is consistent, appealing, and aligned with the brand’s core values: quality, tradition, and innovation. Each recipe told a story of care, creativity, and connection, reinforcing rice’s place as an essential, nutritious ingredient full of culinary potential. The result was a rich and engaging collection of content, perfect for digital brand activation, campaigns, and promotional materials.

Inspired by the timeless wisdom of “Salus per Aquam” and “Mens sana in Corpore Sano,” our vision unfolds as an immersive multisensory journey—a true celebration of life’s natural harmony. Imagine “Ritual Sensory,” where every aspect of your experience is a carefully choreographed ritual, awakening all five of your senses and deeply connecting you with nature’s healing force. In this transformative culinary journey, water serves as the sacred thread connecting mind, body, and spirit. Each course is a meditative ritual, encouraging you to savour flavours that are nutritionally balanced and reflect organic, local, and seasonal integrity. Here, the act of dining transforms into a soulful celebration of wellness, sustainability, and the art of living vibrantly.

Food Design Lab Lisbon has developed a collection of original recipes for Vivid Farms that celebrate the potential of regenerative agriculture — ingredients grown more sustainably and with a reduced environmental footprint. This project explores the freshness, intense flavour, and versatility of Vivid Farms' vegetables, incorporating principles of seasonality, zero waste, and food design. The goal: to inspire both consumers and food professionals to adopt more conscious and creative practices in the kitchen. More than just dishes, these recipes are sensory experiences designed to honour the origin of food and foster a new relationship with eating — one that is closer, more informed, and more sustainable. This collaboration reinforces the mission of Food Design Lab Lisbon as a platform for experimentation and co-creation among brands, producers, chefs, and designers — placing design at the heart of food innovation. Together, Vivid Farms and Food Design Lab are cultivating the future of gastronomy — one plate at a time.

Spring has Sprung is a sensorial and immersive experience to welcome the flavors, ingredients and aromas of Spring. A short-term pop up event. A Food Design Lab Lisbon and Imppacto, Catering & Eventos initiative.

The Food Design Lab was challenged by Laurel - Portuguese Association of Brands of Excellence to serve a 5 o'clock tea at Clínica Ousia under the theme "What jewelry smells like". To meet the challenge beyond tea, we created an edible jewel full of aromas and flavors.

Here, time is not the enemy — it is an essential ingredient, just like the quality of every product that enters our kitchen. Inspired by the traditions of artisanal cooking and the wisdom of those who grow, harvest, and transform with intention, Madalena Cooking values the origin of ingredients, their natural rhythms, and their seasonality. We work with local producers, respect the cycles of the land, and let ourselves be guided by the kind of simplicity that truly satisfies. Each recipe is an invitation to slow down, to observe, to savour. Because good cooking is not about speed — it’s about care. And when the right time meets the right ingredients, something truly memorable is born. Madalena Cooking is more than a gastronomic project — it’s a space where time gains flavour, and every meal tells a story of respect, connection, and joy.

Nutri2Sustain is a ready-meal project that rethinks the way we eat by focusing on alternative proteins such as legumes, algae, and insects — nutritious, sustainable sources aligned with the food challenges of the future. Developed with a foundation of science and flavour, Nutri2Sustain combines nutritional innovation with low-impact ingredients, promoting a more balanced, protein-rich diet that’s also kind to the planet. Practical, accessible, and delicious, these meals are designed for those seeking quick solutions without compromising on health, sustainability, or the joy of eating well. Each recipe is carefully crafted to highlight the ingredients, respect their nutritional profile, and offer a surprising gastronomic experience. Nutri2Sustain is not just an alternative — it’s a conscious choice to nourish the body and care for the planet.

The project Mex – The Mexican Experience was born with the mission of offering the public an authentic, vibrant, and contemporary take on Mexican gastronomy. More than just a restaurant, Mex is a full experience that celebrates the flavours, colours, and culture of Mexico with creativity and deep respect for its roots. The project involved the complete development of the concept, from brand identity to customer experience. Food Design Lab led the creation of original recipes inspired by classic Mexican cuisine, reinterpreted with local ingredients and innovative techniques — all while preserving the essence of tacos, corn, beans, and bold spices. We supported the entire process through specialised consultancy, team training, and branding and communication support, ensuring consistency between what’s served on the plate and what’s expressed through the brand — with a visual and narrative language that reflects the identity of Mex: genuine, inclusive, and flavourful. Mex – The Mexican Experience is the result of a collaborative, multidisciplinary, and passionate effort that transforms a meal into a cultural discovery and a moment of true gastronomic pleasure.

The Meddiet – Menus4Campus project was developed with the goal of promoting healthy, sustainable, and culturally rooted eating habits within academic communities, based on the Mediterranean Diet — recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. From concept development to communication strategy, the Food Design Lab was involved in every stage of the project. Meddiet – Menus4Campus is more than just a cafeteria initiative — it is an educational, sensory, and strategic effort that connects health, food culture, and sustainability to everyday academic life. This project is funded by the PRIMA programme under Horizon 2020 and developed in partnership with the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto, the School of Health Technology of Lisbon at the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Universitário, and IPAM.

The project developed for Espaço Redes aimed to create a food offer that meets the challenges of modern life without compromising nutritional balance, flavour, or quality. The Food Design Lab was responsible for the development of healthy, practical, and ready-to-go recipes, designed for those who need quick and accessible solutions while still choosing a mindful and nutritious diet. The recipes were created with a focus on fresh ingredients, balanced combinations, and practical formats for everyday life — from functional snacks to complete meals on the go. The approach also integrated principles of seasonality, low waste, and sensory appeal.

Azul Klein is a gastronomic experience where colour is no longer merely aesthetic — it becomes a language. The entire menu was developed around the concept of Klein Blue, inspired by the intensity, depth, and symbolic power of the iconic hue created by artist Yves Klein. More than just a dinner, Azul Klein is a conceptual exploration, where each dish interprets the colour blue not only visually, but also through ingredients, textures, temperatures, and sensations that evoke silence, infinity, mystery, and contemplation. From amuse-bouche to dessert, the menu invites guests to immerse themselves in a chromatic universe where blue unfolds as a gastronomic narrative — stimulating the eyes, the palate, and the imagination. Created by the Food Design Lab, this dinner-performance transforms the table into a space for art and reflection, where colour and flavour intertwine to create a truly unique experience.