Lauren Covas is a proud Portuguese-American chef, two-time Food Network champ and now the author of “Little Portugal”, her cookbook that champions and highlights the Portuguese dishes and flavors of her youth, where, as she recalls, there was always something cooking in the kitchen: night and day.

For Lauren, food is deeply rooted in family and this conversation highlights this heritage, as she recalls her youth spent in the kitchen helping her parents prepare food.

As a proud lover of her Portuguese roots, Lauren adores bacalhau, of course, even claiming that the salted fish should be Portugal’s mascot. Host Tony Gonçalves nods in agreement.

Lauren Covas is a proud Portuguese-American chef, two-time Food Network champ and now the author of &ldquo;Little Portugal&rdquo;, her cookbook that champions and highlights the Portuguese dishes and flavors of her youth, where, as she recalls, there was always something cooking in the kitchen: night and day.
For Lauren, food is deeply rooted in family and this conversation highlights this heritage, as she recalls her youth spent in the kitchen helping her parents prepare food.
As a proud lover of her Portuguese roots, Lauren adores bacalhau, of course, even claiming that the salted fish should be Portugal&rsquo;s mascot. Host Tony Gon&ccedil;alves nods in agreement.

Each week, join Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive—as he explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage. From visionary entrepreneurs to cultural pioneers, The Heart and Hustle of Portugal uncovers the unique ways the Portuguese identity thrives worldwide. As Expresso’s first English-language product, this series bridges cultures and connects the global audience to Portugal’s spirit of innovation, passion, and resilience.

Each week, join Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive—as he explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage. From visionary entrepreneurs to cultural pioneers, The Heart and Hustle of Portugal uncovers the unique ways the Portuguese identity thrives worldwide. As Expresso’s first English-language product, this series bridges cultures and connects the global audience to Portugal’s spirit of innovation, passion, and resilience.

Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive— explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage

The Heart & Hustle of Portugal

The Heart and Hustle of Portugal

Chef Lauren Covas shares her Portuguese heritage in this flavor infused conversation.

From Murtosa to the mainstream: chef Lauren Covas on food, family, and the flavor of Portugal

At the center of the conversation with Serena Kaos is fear. Not as a dramatic concept, but as a daily operating condition. The artist describes growing up as “the weird kid,” a creative outsider shaped as much by insecurity as by imagination, and how the search for belonging became a source of anxiety that followed her into adulthood. The decision she made at twelve, to be happy, endures not as naïveté but as a stubbornideal, complicated by the realization that happiness does not inoculate against discomfort.

After “The Voice”, Serena flew to London and started busking. Independence, meanwhile, carries no safety net: releasing music alone requires creative control paid for in exhaustion and burnout. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who understands that happiness is not an arrival point but a practice, sustained in motion between fear and resolve, solitude and contact, the street and the song.

At the center of the conversation with Serena Kaos is fear. Not as a dramatic concept, but as a daily operating condition. The artist describes growing up as &ldquo;the weird kid,&rdquo; a creative outsider shaped as much by insecurity as by imagination, and how the search for belonging became a source of anxiety that followed her into adulthood. The decision she made at twelve, to be happy, endures not as na&iuml;vet&eacute; but as a stubbornideal, complicated by the realization that happiness does not inoculate against discomfort.
After &ldquo;The Voice&rdquo;, Serena flew to London and started busking. Independence, meanwhile, carries no safety net: releasing music alone requires creative control paid for in exhaustion and burnout. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who understands that happiness is not an arrival point but a practice, sustained in motion between fear and resolve, solitude and contact, the street and the song.

Serena Kaos is a Portuguese singer‑songwriter who first caught public attention with a four‑chair turn on “The Voice Portugal” before choosing a harder, quieter route. She moved to London on impulse and began building her career from the street up as an independent busker. With a second album just released, she speaks candidly with Tony Gonçalves about fear, work, and the cost of artistic freedom.

Serena Kaos turned chairs on “The Voice Portugal” then turned heads on the streets of London

Born in Lisbon’s Graça neighbourhood, Ângelo Freire grew up in fado houses, absorbing the language of the genre long before he began to articulate his own. He sang from the age of seven, picked up the Portuguese guitar shortly after, and by eleven was already performing on national television. Playing alongside figures such as Carlos do Carmo, Mariza, Ana Moura or Carminho required restraint as much as skill, while learning how to listen, react and support.

Only recently has Freire stepped forward with a self‑titled album, motivated less by self‑assertion than by concern for the future of the language of fado. With a repertoire still heavily dependent on centuries‑old melodic structures, he argues that fado risks repetition if new music is not written within its grammar. His compositions aim to extend the tradition without altering its matrix, offering new melodies that can be inhabited, reused and transformed by others. But it is on his guitar, that is always by his side, that Ângelo Freire’s voice (and soul) truly shines, as he demonstrates playing live for this podcast.

Born in Lisbon&rsquo;s Gra&ccedil;a neighbourhood, &Acirc;ngelo Freire grew up in fado houses, absorbing the language of the genre long before he began to articulate his own. He sang from the age of seven, picked up the Portuguese guitar shortly after, and by eleven was already performing on national television. Playing alongside figures such as Carlos do Carmo, Mariza, Ana Moura or Carminho required restraint as much as skill, while learning how to listen, react and support.
Only recently has Freire stepped forward with a self‑titled album, motivated less by self‑assertion than by concern for the future of the language of fado. With a repertoire still heavily dependent on centuries‑old melodic structures, he argues that fado risks repetition if new music is not written within its grammar. His compositions aim to extend the tradition without altering its matrix, offering new melodies that can be inhabited, reused and transformed by others. But it is on his guitar, that is always by his side, that &Acirc;ngelo Freire&rsquo;s voice (and soul) truly shines, as he demonstrates playing live for this podcast.

Angelo Freire has spent most of his life slightly out of view, shaping the sound of contemporary fado from the place where it is built rather than displayed. A prodigy of the Portuguese guitar, he has accompanied some of the most decisive voices of the genre and, in doing so, helped carry a tradition that is both rigorously codified and quietly alive. Listen to him and his portuguese guitar on The Heart & Hustle of Portugal

Ângelo Freire carries the soul of Portugal with him

In this earnest conversation on “The Heart & Hustle of Portugal”, Jessica Cipriano opens a window onto a career shaped by pivotal encounters, exposed vulnerabilities, and an unwavering truth: music is the place where everything in her comes alive. She recalls her season on “The Voice”, the surprising impact of viral clips, and the discovery of a vocal identity that lives comfortably between fado‑pop, electronic production, and raw emotional storytelling. Her creative process — defined by both courage and fear — emerges as a cycle of reinvention: falling, getting lost, rising again.

The episode is also portrait of contemporary Portuguese music, a generation honoring tradition while boldly reshaping it. Jessica reflects on the weight of covering musical classics, the unmatched comfort she finds on stage, and the unexpected responsibility toward the younger fans who follow her. With honesty, humor, and a distinctly Portuguese intensity, she reveals herself as an artist still under construction yet firmly rooted in who she is. A vivid testament to how art can remain the compass even when the road seems to vanish.

In this earnest conversation on &ldquo;The Heart &amp; Hustle of Portugal&rdquo;, Jessica Cipriano opens a window onto a career shaped by pivotal encounters, exposed vulnerabilities, and an unwavering truth: music is the place where everything in her comes alive. She recalls her season on &ldquo;The Voice&rdquo;, the surprising impact of viral clips, and the discovery of a vocal identity that lives comfortably between fado‑pop, electronic production, and raw emotional storytelling. Her creative process &mdash; defined by both courage and fear &mdash; emerges as a cycle of reinvention: falling, getting lost, rising again.
The episode is also portrait of contemporary Portuguese music, a generation honoring tradition while boldly reshaping it. Jessica reflects on the weight of covering musical classics, the unmatched comfort she finds on stage, and the unexpected responsibility toward the younger fans who follow her. With honesty, humor, and a distinctly Portuguese intensity, she reveals herself as an artist still under construction yet firmly rooted in who she is. A vivid testament to how art can remain the compass even when the road seems to vanish.

Jessica Cipriano enters this conversation with Tony Gonçalves with the calm certainty of someone who has stood on stages larger than the doubts she still carries. The singer revisits the long path that brought her here: from shy early beginnings to the artistic rebirth that now propels her forward.

From Murtosa to the mainstream: chef Lauren Covas on food, family, and the flavor of Portugal

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