Clube de Fado

Clube de Fado is a fado house (casa de fado) and restaurant in the Alfama district of Lisbon, Portugal, located on Rua de São João da Praça, 94, in the shadow of the Lisbon Cathedral (Sé). It was founded in January 1995 by the guitarist Mário Pacheco, who accompanied Amália Rodrigues, Alfredo Marceneiro and Carlos do Carmo, and composed for Mariza, Camané and Mísia. The house occupies part of a building more than three hundred years old, with stone arches dividing the dining room, velvet curtains, and tables with red tablecloths. Unlike a conventional restaurant that adds fado as entertainment, Clube de Fado was conceived from fado outward: it is a place of conviviality and silence where the music governs the night, and dinner takes its place around the performance. Live fado is performed every night, with the first voice rising at 20:30; the kitchen opens at 19:30. Ensembles alternate with courses throughout the evening, and when a singer stands, service is suspended and the room falls silent — the only rule of the house. The menu is a single fixed offering of Portuguese cuisine at €78 per person, including couvert, starter, main course and dessert, with the fado show included; there is no separate ticket. Dishes include Bacalhau à Clube de Fado, Polvo à lagareiro, Cataplana de marisco (with a €40 supplement per person), and Pudim Abade de Priscos. Drinks are not included. The house also takes bookings for groups of more than ten people, corporate dinners and special occasions. In 2006 the Casa da Imprensa distinguished Clube de Fado with the Prémio Casa de Fado. The venue is counted among the best fado houses in Lisbon and is also promoted in tourist contexts. It has hosted high-calibre artists such as Camané, Mariza, Dulce Pontes, Carlos do Carmo and António Chainho, and prominent guests including Neil Armstrong, Woody Allen, Eusébio, Isabel Allende and Isabelle Huppert. It is particularly popular among musicians, with visits from Ryūichi Sakamoto, Maria Bethânia and Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Adriana Calcanhotto, the Scorpions, Mick Jagger, Tereza Salgueiro, Cliff Richard, Mísia, Zucchero and Chris de Burgh.

Clube de Fado opened in January 1995 by the hand of Mário Pacheco, a guitarist who accompanied Amália Rodrigues, Alfredo Marceneiro and Carlos do Carmo, and who composed for Mariza, Camané and Mísia. Pacheco wanted a house that mirrored what fado is for those who play it: a place of conviviality and silence, where music governs the night. This origin distinguishes the club — it was not born a restaurant to which fado was added, but was born from fado, with dinner coming to occupy its place around it. The house occupies part of a building more than three hundred years old on Rua de São João da Praça, the street that skirts the Lisbon Cathedral in the heart of Alfama. Inside, stone arches divide the room into alcoves, velvet curtains hold the sound, and tables with red tablecloths await the first voice. Alfama is the neighbourhood where fado was born, and this street is among the oldest in the city; entering the club is a continuation of the street — the same stone, the same intimate scale, the same night. In 2006, the Casa da Imprensa distinguished the house with the Prémio Casa de Fado. Over the years the venue has been characterised both by high-calibre artists — such as Camané, Mariza, Dulce Pontes, Carlos do Carmo and António Chainho — and by a series of prominent guests, including Neil Armstrong, Woody Allen, Eusébio, Isabel Allende and Isabelle Huppert. It is especially popular among musicians, with visits from Ryūichi Sakamoto, Maria Bethânia and her brother Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Adriana Calcanhotto, the Scorpions, Mick Jagger, Tereza Salgueiro, Cliff Richard, Mísia, Zucchero and Chris de Burgh. The club is now counted among the best fado houses in Lisbon, while also being promoted in tourist contexts.

• 2006

  The Casa da Imprensa distinguishes the house with the Prémio Casa de Fado.

• 1995

  Clube de Fado opens in January, founded by guitarist Mário Pacheco in Alfama, Lisbon.

A fado house founded by a musician, offering an intimate, music-centred night of Portuguese cuisine and live fado in historic Alfama.

• Menu with live fado

  Single fixed menu of Portuguese cuisine at €78 per person, including couvert, starter, main course and dessert, with the fado show included.

• Bacalhau à Clube de Fado

  A signature codfish dish.

• Polvo à lagareiro

  Octopus prepared in the lagareiro style.

• Cataplana de marisco

  Seafood cataplana, with a supplement of €40 per person.

• Pudim Abade de Priscos

  A traditional Portuguese dessert.

1. 1Clube de Fado — Casa de fado em Alfama, junto à Sé de Lisboaclubedefado.pt
2. 2Sobre Nós — Clube de Fado · Lisboaclubedefado.pt
3. 3Menu com Fado ao Vivo — Clube de Fado · Lisboaclubedefado.pt
4. 4Clube de Fadowikidata.org
5. 5Clube de Fadode.wikipedia.org