Group Cooking Class

This is the most social experience Vivana offers. A maximum of twelve guests — all strangers at the start — divide into teams and compete to prepare the best version of the same Portuguese dish, with a professional chef as referee and occasional rescuer.

The menu changes weekly: sometimes it's cataplana (seafood stew), sometimes açorda (bread-thickened fish soup), sometimes a Sunday roast of lamb with migas. Whatever it is, you cook it from scratch, taste as you go, and eat the results together at a long communal table.

Wine is poured throughout. The atmosphere is reliably chaotic, occasionally competitive, and always warm.