About Este...

Olà old friends and future friends of Este!

After these couple of nightmare months hopefully things are getting better soon. When I reopen the bar,  I would like add some things and start earlier. Easy lunch, aperitif, simple dinner with some drinks, things like that. 

I'm asking for support to cover costs and keep the lease going until I can open up again and start making these changes.

I set up a symbolic 8000 euro goal just because till now more or less that was the amount of fix costs that had to be paid while basically needed to be closed.  I'm not expecting much, I'm grateful for anything that cuts from this.  I have some ideas how to return the favour. So please if you would  participate, don't stay anonym ;)

I thought a lot about how to describe what happens there, what to support. It's a 3 minute read, please stay with me.

I realised that there are so many different stories and relations to this 9 square meters, that it's easier for me if i just put on some overplayed songs from the bar (Some of Este 2 Spotify)  and write down some things that pop up in my head than to define the place. 

So, a bit of history:

It's been almost 6 years since we started to catch up there, that's about 1500 nights.
My goal was to have a place in Alfama that is firstly for locals, btw visitors are welcome to join. For me it's a  living room, where we get together to start the night, to finish it, or simply to spend. My part is to go there to open and to pick up the drinks before. Prices were set up by you guys. I pay the rent and bills, take care of a bit of bureaucracy and loads of cleaning. I give myself a salary that is enough to buy my time and to be able to cover these responsibilities.  From the left I was able to give salaries that were respecting the amount of work and passion the bartenders/friends put into this. And of course some drinks on the house.

What motivates me to keep this place alive? Let me just throw out some of the things that we would miss if Este didn’t make it through.  Its a bit of a read, you can skip it, but this is already the shortlist:

- Listening and joining all the random conversations between complete strangers
-Seeing how regulars treat the place. Helping me out with every every every situation, making sure to cover their bills when I lose track, translating with limitless patience, giving a hand when its busy, cleaning, inviting friends, showing music, bringing gifts, meeting up outside of the bar, introducing their families, running the place when I'm not around
- Gregs cafunes,  Fiekes smile, Raquels laughs and  their big time help
- Those Hungarians who just show up randomly to have way too many Unicums
- The home made music collections put together by friends tailored for the current bar mood
- Everyone just listening to music in total silence
- The Erasmus kids who always leave but always come back in the summer 
- The messages and pictures I receive from nights when I’m not there
- The surprise visits of childhood friends, friends of friends pushed to pass by when in Lisbon
- Laughing about jokes that are way too dark and offensive
- Broken glasses, cleaning them up and the drama around it
- Those organised first dates when the whole placed turned into a theater just to help to impress one of the regulars Tinder match 
- (Un)reasonable shots
- Stupid one last drinks
- Passing by to Tipica, Vigario, Tejobar, Joao, Mezinhas, Horacio, Afterhours, Damas, Botequim, Lux etc.
- Uninvited bartenders and DJs
- Debates about sounds quality, light setup, song choice
- The sad, failed attempt to act like a decent bar when police is around
- Afterparties
- Afterhours
- Drunk couples making out all over the place
- Chess and the banning of it 
- Song requests for 128 euros
- Hipsters
- Pizzas for the munchies
- Figuring out guest bills with the help of the guests
- Friends who run neighbourhood places passing by after closing
- Amazing and terrible jam sessions
- Witnessing proposals and being the fake priest for marriages 
- Notes left on the walls
- Lista de cavaleiros
- Not being able to move for minutes because of the size of the place
- Next day hungover cleanings with friends
- After a heavy night sneaking back together to reopen in the morning just to close the night
- Hardcore Lisboetas trying to explain me how things work here
- Mourning together the lost ones 
- The amazing suggestions and ideas I got for the bar
- Also the absolutely terrible suggestions and ideas I received
- The good feedbacks and supporting words
- The criticisms on how bad I am with managing the bar and with reading people
- Feeling welcomed more or less by everyone every single night
- and many more that I don't remember.



I'm really happy with Este. Those 2 squaremeters behind the bartop is my happy place. I pay the price in many forms but definitely it is worth it. It's more than a bar for some of us, definitely more than just a job for me. 

If you could support this community in any way it would be really appreciated after this shit of a year. A small donation, spreading the word (https://gofund.me/c6816e86), writing a review  (GoogleReview) or just passing by when we open again would mean a lot :)

Obrigado.

até logo,
Zoltan 

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/1021973447/este/