Team

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Faten was born in Damascus in 1980.
Her life changed dramatically even before the war, when she lost her husband. Left alone with her three daughters, she came to Portugal in 2016 — but only two of them were able to come with her. Her eldest, now 20, is still in Syria, a place Faten hopes to return to one day.

Until then, she works in Mezze’s kitchen, where she has become an expert in making yalanji — rice rolls wrapped in vine leaves — although her favorite dish is kibbeh, the spiced meat croquettes.

She arrived in Portugal in 2016 with her husband and three children, coming from Hama, in central-western Syria.
Back home, she worked with her husband in a dental supply store. She spent two years in a restaurant in Lisbon before joining the kitchen at Mezze. But here, she found a team that speaks her language — and that’s why she chose to stay. She feels at home.
Every dish she helps prepare takes her back to her homeland, but if she had to pick just one, it would be the meat kibbeh.

He was born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1988.
He was working at the Ministry of Youth and Sports when he had to leave his country to avoid being forced to take up arms. After a stop in Turkey and Greece, he arrived in Portugal in 2017 with his wife and their two-year-old son.

His favorite dish is yalanji (called dolma in Iraqi Arabic): vine leaves stuffed with rice and spices.
Mouhamad doesn’t know how to make them — but his wife does. And so do the cooks at Mezze!

She came from the Aleppo region and quickly earned her place at Mezze.
She gives her best in both preparing dishes and serving customers.
She always has a kind smile for anyone who meets her gaze.

Shiraz was born in Afrin, in Syrian Kurdistan, in 1970, but was living in Aleppo with her four children and their grandmother until she was forced to flee.
In 2016, she braved the crossing from Turkey to Greece, where she stayed for a year before coming to Portugal with two of her children.

She’s the smile of Mezze and a true kibbeh expert — those bulgur-based croquettes that can be either vegetarian or filled with meat, like the ones she makes at the restaurant.

She also loves preparing mahashi (vegetables stuffed with rice and spices). It’s one of the dishes that will be on the table when her husband — who is still in Syria — finally receives a visa and can reunite with the family.

César was born in Pemba, in northeastern Mozambique, in 1962.
The civil war led his mother to leave for Portugal, and he — the youngest of seven siblings — eventually followed at the age of twenty. Later, he tried his luck in Nice, France, where he lived for nearly two decades, working at a train station.

In 2011, he returned to Lisbon, and after working in a few bars and restaurants, he joined the team that helped open Mezze.

The dish that takes him straight back to Mozambique is lumino — fried fish with cassava and coconut milk — but he also loves the mujaddara (bulgur with lentils and fried onions) served at Mezze.

He’s from Kolkata — the region of India where, he assures us, the food is the best!
He was studying for a bachelor's degree in Management in Ukraine when the war broke out. That’s when he came to Portugal and eventually started working in the dining room at Mezze.

He enjoys interacting with customers and is especially grateful for the patience they showed him when his Portuguese was still shaky.
For him, learning the language has been the best part of the job.

She left the Indian state of Gujarat for Lisbon, to join her husband, who was already living here.
Mezze is her very first job ever. She loves the feeling of receiving a paycheck at the end of the month and the independence that comes with it.

“I came to build a better future. Here, I found independence. It’s really good for me and for my daughter. I support my family.”

When he joined Mezze in 2021, he found a reality completely different from what he was used to: prayer breaks throughout the day, conversations in Arabic, and a less physical way of greeting. And, of course, food unlike anything he had ever tasted.
He coordinates all areas of restaurant operations and catering services — but still loves getting hands-on in the kitchen.

When he was little, he wanted to be a police officer. Then he decided he’d become a judge.
The problem was he couldn’t find motivation at school. But he had been cooking for his family since the age of 12, inventing dishes — so he chose to follow that path instead.

Mezze has been a life experience for him:
“More than just a kitchen, it’s about the people who work here — new realities, new cultures. It pushes us to grow, both as professionals and as human beings.”

The images of Pokhara, in Nepal, are breathtaking — and Ishwor is proud of the land where he was born, even though he had to seek better opportunities abroad.
He first moved to Dubai, where he worked for eight years in security and as a receptionist.

At Mezze, he appreciates the absence of a rigid hierarchy — that’s what he enjoys most about his job.
But what truly makes him happy is seeing how much the customers love the food.

Being from Brazil doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a special talent for Middle Eastern cuisine.
She has a refined palate that quickly made her an expert in kibbeh and tagine, which she prepares as if it were a cherished family recipe.

She worked in several kitchens before arriving at Mezze — but this is where she chose to stay.
She brings her samba spirit to team gatherings and her smile to every single workday.

Mohamad's dream is to return to Syria, which he left — completely on his own — in 2021.
Back in Damascus, he worked part-time at a barbershop while still attending high school. He left too young to begin a career, but it was here at Mezze that everything started: he’s now our baker, and his khubz just keeps getting better!