The Frango Story
Inspired by tradition, culture and family.
I was born in the beautiful city of Lisbon, the “old town” area, in a typical city neighbourhood. I had a humbling upbringing surrounded by family, landscape, culture and a LOT of good food.
I was very fortunate to grow up in a country that boasts of a great cuisine, (which serves as my excuse for my waist size.) Food has always been an integral part of our lives growing up and now, conscious we must keep a balanced diet at home, I try to make sure that same Portuguese food culture is passed on to my three daughters, with the (rather cautious) support of my very Welsh wife.
The story of Frango was born in those early days. My first memory goes back to when I was around five years old. My mother worked very long hours, but almost always found time to cook some really hearty, homely food. When she didn’t, she got us the occasional takeaway and, typical of a Portuguese mother back then, she was a real food snob so, even though the big fast food brands were around back then, we weren’t really allowed to eat any of that stuff. (Mum always called it that “processed American food cr*p”) so instead, we had what we now offer you here…
The spatchcocked chicken, cooked over charcoal (sometimes with ‘picante’ or “Piri- Piri”) which in Portugal you’d call a “Frango” traditionally served with a side of chips, rice and salad.
Before opening Frango in Swansea, I was going back and forth to Portugal a lot, meeting great people who cook Frango for a living, watching and learning from their processes of cooking, listening to their stories, ramblings and pet peeves. In the end, I concluded that above all, we needed to get three key things right, the weight of the chicken must be no more than one kilo, it must always be cooked fully over charcoal and it must be left to marinate with something special for 24hrs but not much longer.
After five years of dreaming about the stuff, we took the chance from being able to slow down during this Covid-19, I am now pleased to say that we are finally here, with the help of my good childhood friend Laurita, hoping to bring some of those nice food memories of yesteryear. Our very first Frango takeaway is finally open in the heart of Uplands, Swansea.
I am truly humbled you have taken the time to read a snippet of my story about how we got here today. If you do order a food delivery or takeaway from us, firstly let me thank you for giving it a try and secondly, if no bother, we’d love to genuinely hear what you think about Frango. Click here to leave us a review on Google or Tripadvisor.
Obrigado,
