The John Guy

It is the 70s and you are 13years old. Working part-time at a place that you will eventually inherit. Feels like a movie but old-school work ethics have made this is a reality numerous times. Without any knowledge of the future this happened to a 13year old boy tagging along with his dad to visit the closest city and one of the most important ports of Portugal.

This brings us to Mr. Arlindo Sousa or ‘The John guy’ (You can refer to the previous article’s ending to know why I call him ‘The John guy’). He was 13years old when he started working at Casa Expresso in the heart of Porto, starting on the 1st of October 1978. It started when Arlindo and his brother came to Porto with their father. Both the brothers got to one of the oldest restaurants in the city, dating back to 1946. While their father worked, they themselves went to work at Casa Expresso to make some extra bucks while passing the time productively. Arlindo absolutely loved everything about the restaurant, the work just spoke to him. The village he grew up in, along the beautiful banks of the river Douro was turning out to be a tiring commute. Resende is a beautiful little town (not a village anymore) around 100kms away from Porto but that is a bit too far for an everyday ride. So, after some time he moved to Porto with his brother and started working at Casa Expresso permanently. 

They moved into the building next door to the restaurant. People moving to Porto for working at the restaurant used to sleep in that building. The restaurant used to be only a single small room and a really small kitchen on rent. After becoming the owner of Casa Expresso, Arlindo worked his ass off and eventually bought that building next door. Now, the ground floor serves as another room to sit people down (this one is way bigger) and it allowed him to turn the small kitchen into a huge one by connecting both the sides. Their kitchen is bigger than the most I have seen in Porto. The cool part is that he never took down the wall in between the two rooms, having the old place segregated from the new additions. The original side has been kept exactly the same since it first opened, you can definitely feel that upon entering. The upper two floors of the building are now the homes of the two brothers. Both of them are extremely hands on in the work. They are a part of the serving team and most mornings Arlindo makes massive batches of ‘Mousse de Chocolate’ and blends ‘Sopa do dia’ amongst other tasks (I saw him making those. The quantities are such that each took about an hour). I love how he has created this little world of his own. Even his wife is the part of the kitchen. He was telling me that his kids don’t want to work with the restaurant because they were born in those halls and grew up doing what he did (I can understand. Me and my brother didn’t end up joining our family business too). Although, maybe they might end up in the mix eventually. 

At that time the restaurant only served a few dishes and extremely traditional ones. Those dishes are not everyone’s cup of tea (or well, plate of food) but even after 44years Arlindo has managed to keep the menu intact with only a few changes. The biggest addition happened when he added ‘Rojões’ (and ‘The John’) to the menu. My favourite and one that the restaurant is quite fairly known for. I was surprised to find that this was his wife’s recipe and was added in 1990 to the menu. Even he didn’t know that it would be such a hit. At least according to me it is the best in Porto.  

One of things that I loved the most about this place is just how good it feels to be around these people. The morning I went to talk to him to get to know him a bit more personally, he was really supportive as I had to talk to him entirely in Portuguese (Not an easy task). When I got there, they were setting up the restaurant, preparing all the food, everyone was running around and Arlindo was doing his daily tasks, all that while I felt so welcomed. His wife eventually came out and I loved every bit of cohesiveness that I witnessed. The kind of connection the front of the house and the kitchen have in that restaurant is now-a-days missing in most of the modern places. I know that it is the family working together but its just so lovely to see it. (Also, as time has told us it is not easy to have an entire family working with a shared thought.)

Now, if you go to the restaurant, I recommend sitting in the older part (the one with the white tiles). You will find Arlindo working in the balcony, entertaining all the regulars amidst all the typical restaurant chaos. Definitely have a talk with him (if you speak the same language), soak in all that ambience and just enjoy some good food.