Marlene Vieira

Chef Marlene Vieira is the owner and chef of Marlene, a Lisbon restaurant opened in 2022 at the Lisbon Cruise Terminal, where she earned a Michelin star in 2025 as the first Portuguese woman in 30 years to achieve this honor. Born in Maia, northern Portugal, she began working in kitchens at age 12 while her father delivered meat to a restaurant, enrolled in Santa Maria da Feira hotel school at 16, worked at a hotel in Vila do Conde, spent two years at Alfama in New York, and later held positions in 5-star hotels and restaurants in Portugal.

In 2009, she competed in the male-dominated Chef Cook of the Year contest, breaking gender norms, and her cuisine reinterprets Portuguese regional recipes with innovation, seasonality, and sustainability.