JOIN OUR ARCA TEAM
With a score of 9 in NRCA, 8.5 in Telegraaf, a 13.5 Gault Millau entry and inclusion in the Michelin Guide NL, all within our first 6 months – it’s safe to say award-winning chef Henrique Sá Pessoa’s ARCA Restaurant & Bar opened with a bang in Amsterdam. We are looking for more passionate, energetic and creative people to join our ARCA team and continue bringing our vision to life!
ARCA means chest in Portuguese and now we are looking for new & unique jewels to add to our chest. If this excites you, see below for current positions.

HENRIQUE SÁ PESSOA - CONCEPT CHEF
Henrique Sá Pessoa opened ARCA as the relaxed & funkier sister to his other outlets and his first restaurant in Europe outside of Lisbon. He is the third chef in Portuguese history to get two Michelin stars for his restaurant Alma and was GQ Chef of the year in 2017, and named in the top 100 Best Chef’s in the World at the Best Chef Awards in September 2021 in Amsterdam as well as Best New Entry 2021.
Henrique also owns a relaxed Portuguese restaurant Taspico which opened in 2017, runs one of the most popular stands at Timeout Market Lisboa, and also features on popular Portuguese cooking show Ingrediente Secreto, as well as winning Portuguese chef of the year in 2005.
I don’t have the conventional chef’s background where they used to cook with their grandmother and they used to pick fruits and vegetables out in the garden. That’s not me. I am a city boy and basketball was my life until I realised my passion for travelling and discovering and combining unique flavours!
Henrique Sá Pessoa

RICARDO PEREIRA - HEAD CHEF
Ricardo Pereira is the Head Chef at ARCA Amsterdam, he has worked with Henrique for nearly 10 years and relocated to Amsterdam to help bring this vision to life. When asking Henrique why did he bring Ricardo to ARCA it was simple, “everyone looks up to Ricardo, I can always count on Ricardo to get stuck in, always with a smile on his face and I implicitly trust him with the ARCA concept”