Restaurant: LA Caffé.

I like to freak out my more conservative clients and candidates at lunchtime by leading them into an upmarket women's clothing store. Only after wending past the chic children's collection do they spot the stairs going up to the LA Caffé* at the back. The concept derives from the Armani café in the heart of a fashion store and this copy by the successful Portuguese brand Lanidor is well executed indeed. There are three outlets at present: I will concentrate on the one near our Lisbon office, on Campo Grande (no. 3B) on the corner with Avenida das Forças Armadas. The one on the Avenida de Liberdade (no.129) is similar and there is another nearby - a tea room this time - further up towards the Marquês de Pombal.

The decor is important, for this is, after all, about fashion - it is sharp, light and invigorating. There is no piped music (hurrah!) but if there were it would be the cooler end of jazz. The service is pleasant and efficient. The food is perfect for a quick lunch, for even the most important of clients, which will allow you to concentrate back in the office afterwards. The theme is Italian bistro, the choices are innovative without pretension and the portions are small but not frugal. Serious thought has gone into the menu, which ranges from sinless salads and the simplest of pastas – the spaghetti alla carbonara is perfect – to hearty risottos and various duck and pork dishes. Yet each dish has an original touch, a tasty nuance, that reminds you this is real food and none is heavy-handed or ostentatious.

The wine list is brief but sensible. The puddings are a must and involve only the mildest of dietary sins. The chocolate muffins in a chocolate are more sensuously chocolatey than a Belgian boudoir; the mango carpaccio in a delicate baked custard is scrumptious.

You will come out of the restaurant only very slightly heavier and with your wallet only very slightly lighter. 30 euros will buy a good meal to delight your clients.

*PS The linguistic pedant in me can't resist a gripe. If a restaurant is meant to be Italian, why can't they do even the tiniest bit of homework and check that it is "café" in French but "caffè" (grave, not acute accent) in Italian. Caffé just makes me and, I daresay, Italians, wince. I am sad to note that LA "Caffé" is not alone in Lisbon in its slipshod pretensions. A case that especially annoyed me was a "Lisbonne Caffé" just on the other side of the street.This ghastly mess of a name managed to combine English word order with the French name of the city, Italian spelling of café and French accentuation - barbarians! It doesn't reflect well on me that I was hugely satisfied when the "caffé" closed down. Gripe over.