SEM

The story

SEM Lisbon: Zero-Waste Cuisine in Alfama, Michelin Recommended 2026

SEM, a zero-waste restaurant at Rua Das Escolas Gerais 120 in Lisbon, cooks a zero-waste cuisine from ferments, preserves and wild ingredients, and earned a Michelin Recommended distinction in 2026.

A menu built on what was kept

Lara and George opened SEM in the summer of 2021. George trained as a chef in New Zealand and Australia, and the kitchen works from a wall of ferments and preserves made from earlier menus. A new dish starts with a main element, usually a vegetable. The team then asks what can be used now, what can be saved for later and what cannot be eaten.

Yacon and the invasive zander

The winter yacon is served raw, seasoned with its own juiced skin and trim. It sits over a sunflower seed praline in a ginger broth. Zander, an invasive river fish, has been a regular on the fish course for more than a year, and the kitchen has not used sea fish since 2022. Weekly updates from farmers, including Jorge in Leiria, shape what appears on the menu.

Drinks from the kitchen's by-products

The wine list leans toward Portuguese and European low-intervention bottles, some in cans, bag-in-box, magnums and kegs. Cocktails use foraged ingredients and kitchen by-products, made with Toca da Raposa, and the craft beer comes from Barona Brewing Company. Non-alcoholic drinks are made in house with kombucha, shrubs and infusions. The website lists SEM as temporarily closed, so check its Instagram before planning a visit.