OUR TEAM

Marina was born and raised in Lisbon, in one of the oldest neighborhoods: the Castel.

Marina has a passion for hospitality that was unearthed in her father’s restaurant in Lisbon’s infamous Bairro Alto district where she helped out prepping food as a youngster. Her family has strong roots in Angola, having thrived there for 25 years before returning to Lisbon in the 70’s, and these roots have had a creative influence on her family’s authentic cooking style, invoking spicy food and strong flavors ever since! The authentic Portuguese ‘kitchen table’ has always been at the center of her family’s relationship.These days, her family crowds around one or another such table every Sunday to pay homage to traditional seasonal ingredients and share organic fruit and vegetables that have been grown in one of their gardens.

As a fearless 21 year old she decided to move to London to improve her English and experience life. Her plan was for a temporary move, but she ended up staying. She found employment with an independent, award winning, group of cocktail bars and learned her trade as a mixologist and venue manager. She organized and executed parties and events that included pop up rooftop parties and live music lineups that were hugely successful. Her language skills developed in London and she now speaks English like a native!

After 6 eventful years in London, Marina moved to Morzine, in the French Alps, to sample yet another way of life and intensify her love of food, hospitality and culture. France is renowned for its culinary diversity and Marina was fascinated with their cuisine. She worked in a local restaurant under a French chef who helped to nurture Marina’s interest and skill in the kitchen. Her family enjoyed an idyllic life in one of the most beautiful places in France, but Marina often felt ‘saudade’, a strong longing for Portugal….

So, in 2021, after 17 years abroad accumulating a husband, 2 children, 2 languages and a wealth of experience, Marina returned to her homeland to continue the odyssey of her life. She now enjoys living the rural life among her fruit trees and flowers just on the outskirts of Lisbon.

However, hosting Oh My Cod! tours allows her to experience the buzz that only city life can provide! She has extensive local knowledge and understands the cultural influences on Lisbon’s strong culinary heritage which she proudly shares whenever she can.

Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil, the land of barbecue and red wine, Livia is a 30-year-old Personal Chef, who graduated with distinction as the best student in the Gastronomy course.

She has worked in marketing for big international companies, but was in 2015, when studying management at the University of Lisbon, that she discovered her love and desire to share gastronomic experiences – either through cooking, through her knowledge shared on social media and also as host and food expert at Oh! my Cod. Besides, she is a great enthusiast of good music and good wines. Exploring markets, restaurants, recipes, wines and ingredients is part of her daily routine!

Apart from being a Food Expert and Cultural Mediator at Oh! My Cod, Lívia works as a Personal Chef, Manager, Consultant & Creator of Gastronomic Content through her brand @cozinhadalivia, on digital platforms.

Lisbon is now her homeplace, the country where her professional vocation was born, but also where Livia find her Lusitanian origin. But she has also lived in Valencia, Dubai and Doha, where she had the opportunity to experience and learn about these and other cultures.

Traveling and getting to know the local history and food culture, is part of her essence, as Lívia believes that these are “ingredients” to provide and create context and new connections between different people from different locals in the world.

Julia was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She discovered at the young age of 14 that her first life goal was to move to Europe while travelling in Italy. Some time later, she graduated from Skidmore College in New York with a BA in Psychology — with some focus in theatre and French. She lived in Paris for 4 months in 2013 and felt absolutely at home. While this strongly enforced her desire to move to Europe, she fell in love with theatrical lighting design and decided to move to Philadelphia at the age of 22 to work in theatre.

While in Philadelphia, Julia worked in many theatres as a production manager. During her 4 years in Philly, she also discovered a love for hospitality. Hospitality was something she could pursue anywhere…

At the age of 26 she decided to make moves on her dream to move to Europe and apply to a Masters program in Hospitality and Tourism in Lisbon, Portugal. She packed two bags and finally, finally moved to Europe in March 2020 – to an empty Lisbon, with restaurants and all tourist attractions closed, due to COVID. But this did not deter her. In fact, she was able to see and learn the city from a different vantage. She fell more in love with Lisbon and Portuguese culture.

Over 4 years, Julia worked in many restaurants in Lisbon and eventually felt that her people-skills and education could be put to more use. This brought her to Oh! My Cod – combining her love of Portuguese gastronomy and culture with her social nature. Now she is a happy food expert and local host and cannot wait to share her chosen city with you!

Portuguese travel and food writer. Besides being the author of “Lisbon in 100 Bites”, she’s also the creator of Portugal’s only Pastel de Nata baking workshop to take place inside a real working bakery. At Oh! My Cod Zara leads gastronomic experiences in Lisbon. Recently Silvia managed to convince Zara that there’s something truly special about Pico island and, after sharing many stories, she decided to travel there herself and finally join the Oh! My Cod Pico Experience too.

Rodrigo was born and raised in Lisbon in a family of artists, his mom is a curator and restorer of antics – porcelain, paintings, tapestry – and his father was a musician and composer.

From a young age, he developed a taste for music and learned various instruments but really fell in love with drumming which he started studying intensively from the age of 8. Eventually, that dedication paid off when he was invited for an audition at a University in England where he got offered a scholarship and completed a BA honors degree in music.

His time in England awakened in him an interest in learning more about Portuguese gastronomy, which he was missing so much. He started developing his cooking skills and exploring all he could about the history behind the ingredients and condiments used in Portuguese cuisine. Soon he found himself immersed in the amazing interconnectedness between the fascinating period of Portuguese exploration around the world and how that influenced gastronomy in so many parts of the world, but also in Portugal.

Now he is a proud local Food Expert and Cultural Mediator with an endless love for food, culture, Portugal and especially for sharing it with other people.