Fado singer performing in the street before the yellow façade lettered MACHADO

Fado house · Bairro Alto · Lisbon

Gallery

Fifty-seven photographs of one night in this house: the space, the fado, the table.

Adega Machado is a fado house in Bairro Alto, Lisbon, since 1937. Amália Rodrigues, Carlos do Carmo and Mariza have all sung here — as do the fado singers and musicians who keep this UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tradition alive today.

These photographs are a way to show what words cannot hold: the twelve-string Portuguese guitar, the viola de fado that accompanies it, the fado singer at the moment of surrender, and the dining room where it all happens just a few metres from those who dine.

Wall of framed portraits along the stone corridor at Adega Machado

Hand on the strings of a viola de fado, seen close to the bridge

Sautéed prawns with a lemon wedge and coriander in a dark stoneware bowl

Corridor with a black-and-white mural of past fado singers and, at the end, the wall of framed portraits

Male fado singer performing in the room before the painting, musicians behind him

Green cocktail in a coupe on the counter, bottles blurred behind

Corridor mural with a fado singer’s portrait printed the full height of the wall

Fado singer performing with eyes closed before the painting of past fado singers

Tournedos with bordelaise sauce, celeriac-and-apple purée and broccolini on a white plate

Staircase lined with dozens of framed photographs along the stone wall

Fado singer with arms crossed over her chest, eyes closed, singing

Couvert of bread, butter and olive spread, seen from above

Guitar-shaped neon sign above the tiled façade at dusk

Fado singer with hands clasped before her chest while singing

Vegetable velouté with a cream flower drawn on top, in a stoneware bowl

Open door at number 91 between tiled panels, the lit corridor beyond

Fado singer with eyes closed and hands on her chest, mid-song

Cod loin with vegetables and a red crisp, on a white plate

Vertical neon sign reading MACHADO with a Portuguese guitar, at night

Fado singer in black singing with head raised in the darkened room

Empadas lined up on a slate board with a bowl of olives

Lit neon sign above the illuminated yellow façade of Adega Machado

Board of Portuguese cheeses with olives and fresh shoots

Tiled façade panel with a Portuguese guitar, a mandolin and folk figures

House guitarist playing the Portuguese guitar against a golden woven backdrop

Sautéed prawns with sauce and lemon in an earthenware dish

Yellow façade tiles with a life-size painted viola de fado

Detail of the soundhole and bridge of a Portuguese guitar being played

Breaded little fish with crisps in a basket and herb mayonnaise

Green door of Adega Machado beneath the tiled name, on Rua do Norte

Seated guitarist playing, old portraits on the wall behind

Beef tournedos with purée, broccoli and a dark reduction

Narrow Bairro Alto street in fog with the Adega Machado neon at the end

Musician playing the viola de fado, seated by the curtains

Dessert with beetroot, fruit and an edible flower on a stoneware plate

Row of red wine bottles on the white cloth beside the stone wall

Wide shot of the full room during a fado, the fado singer at the far end

Abade de Priscos pudding with beetroot sorbet, lemon curd and an edible flower

Stone-walled corridor with grazing light leading to the fado room

Black-and-white portrait of a fado singer performing

Hands cutting into the tournedos with bordelaise sauce and celeriac-apple purée

Stone corridor with a red-lit room at the far end

Dessert seen from above on the stoneware plate, cutlery resting on the cloth

Wooden shelves lined with Portuguese wine bottles

Slice of chocolate tart with a quenelle of ice cream and crumble, by candlelight

Painting of three fado musicians above the laid tables at Adega Machado

Green cocktail with foam and an edible flower on the bar counter

Bottle from the Amálias 100 edition with Amália Rodrigues’s silhouette on the label

Room with red lamps and a mural of a fado singer with a guitar

Long table laid under red lamps, set for a group

Three musicians beside the tiled façade of Adega Machado, in Bairro Alto

Empty laid room with white cloths and folded napkins

Wide view of the main room with laid tables and paintings on the walls

Anteroom with low chairs and the wine cellar beyond

Top of a wooden barrel branded with the year 2007

Book an evening at Adega Machado

Fado begins at 20:30. The kitchen opens at 19:00. There are few tables, and evenings fill up well in advance.

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