Our Philosophy

We are based in Timor-Leste, located 8.8 degrees south of the equator.
This half-island nation is part of a greater archipelagic region with
profound food diversity, knowledge and bio-cultural history.

We represent a global community that believes in a simple, but powerful idea:
"Food should be good, clean and fair for producers, eaters and the environment. We believe in a food system that celebrates biodiversity and nourishes the planet; a food system that creates healthy communities where everyone can eat, and eat well."

We believe in the power of sharing ideas over a delicious meal, where real human-to-human connections develop and can lead to positive changes our community and in the global food system. We are a proud member of the Slow Food movement.

Mentoring Food Innovators

We mentor youth to shape the future of food and agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region. 
We connect them with other food innovators and thought-leaders across disciplines and geographies; with cooks and chefs from diverse culinary traditions; with farmers, producers, baristas and storytellers; with emerging innovative entrepreneurs who's core business demands a sustainable planet.

We are guided by the equatorial seasons and the knowledge of our ancestors. As plant-forward champions we celebrate the seasonality of flavours, and advocate for native and heritage ingredients.

To eat in Timor-Leste is to eat seasonally.
Our menu changes every week depending on what nature provides.  
90% of our ingredients are sourced locally from small-scale farmers and local markets. This keeps our flavour possibilities broad and our waste minimal.

Agora /ˈæɡərə/ἀγορά 

In Ancient Greece, the "Agora" was a gathering place to share ideas. To honour its etymological roots, Agora Food Studio is designed as an open fluid space for collaboration and learning on the history, culture, science, and ethnobotany of food in the region.

In the national language of Timor-Leste, "Agora" also means "now" – a powerful and edifying reminder that we must act now, not tomorrow, to change the way we eat, 
to preserve biodiversity, honour our indigenous knowledge, 
and to innovate with empathy for others and our environment. 

2015
ALVA & MARK CO-FOUND SLOW FOOD DILI. FROM HERE, THE CONCEPT OF TLFL BEGINS.

General manager

FOOD INNOVATION AND FINANCE OFFICER

Chef

Cesaltina “Alou” tilman

Originally a coffee producer, Cesaltina joined our team in 2017. Humble, committed, stoic - but don’t underestimate her! Alou honed her craft firstly behind the scenes as a stagier, then behind the coffee machine as a first-rate barista. Today, Alou is our second General Manager and is calmly steering the current @Agorafoodstudio TasteTeam through challenging times brought about by the pandemic.

Quick fun facts Alou: 1) She loves yoga and dedicates herself every Friday doing Ahimsa-ka Satya's class on our rooftop; 2) She won 5th best barista in the country at the 2018 National Barista Competition; 3) She's got a great palette; the chefs depend on her and others to give feedback as part of daily quality control.

From: Same, manufahi

Paulina Mau Torres da Cruz

Paula is a super star. She coaches her team on self-confidence (listen to her podcast here!), she manages customer engagement and Agora’s financial administration, and facilitates digital marketing workshops for Timor-Leste #nextgen tourism entrepreneurs. She first started with us in 2017 and in 2020 will be leading Timor-Leste’s healthy local noodles revolution.

What is Good Food to Paula?

“Good Food is about love. Good food is eating our local products that have high nutrition and makes us healthy, it is eating together with family to share our parents and grandparents' stories. Eating good food is very important, like sharing our love to each other. So start from now, let’s practice cooking good food for ourselves and our family to eat, like we are giving our love to them.”

Fun facts: Paula loves swimming and singing. Her favorite foods are are TimorMie (Agora’s local healthy noodles) and Marotok (a traditional childhood dish). Favourite drink: Tamarind or soursop juice and Agora’s house blend tea.

From: uatu-lari, viqueque

ANa viviana c. da costa neto

It’s not often we get someone like Chef Ana, her intuition with ingredients and culinary skills is remarkable.

She began her journey in Agora in 2019, starting as a barista and a juice creator, until we discovered her talent for cooking!

Ana really really loves cooking. Her first favorite dish to create was lasagna made with papaya flower, pumpkin, tofu, and fresh moringa pasta. She’s obsessed with cabbages and we love it! Ana’s dream in the future is to pioneer a restaurant in her home in Baucau. Her hobbies are basketball, volleyball, football and cooking

From: Kota-Lama, Baucau

Chef

barista and roaster

timormie co-founder, BAKER, products manager

ARNALDO “KELO”Araujo

If you have ever peeked into the kitchen at Agora Food Studio, you have probably seen a very busy Kelo, or “Kelo ba Kelo” for short. Kelo is our kitchen manager and fish whisperer – coming all the way from Atauro Island!

Kelo loves food so much, that when we asked him what his hobby was, he immediately responded “tasting food”.

We love Kelo because not only is the backbone of the organization, he constantly keeps us laughing, and if you have taken a cooking class with us, he probably made you laugh, too! Check out our videos on youtube and facebook to see him “tasting” the beef tukir during the cooking classes. Kelo has 5940 professional hours working in hospitality and tourism. 

From: villa, atauro island

EKOBEATUS MARIA DA CRUZ

“I am from Lautem Municipality, Lospalos Administrative Post, Maupitine Village Malhara Community. I work in Agora Food Studio as Barista and Roaster. I am someone who lives in a region of Timor-Leste that does not grow coffee. In the past when I was still studying in Lospalos, my school was a vocational school (STM). When I completed my studies I wanted to continue studying in the capital, Dili but I didn’t have anyone to support me continue my studies so I took a break for 3 months. In that time, I took a decision for myself that I needed to take some training or courses in Dili. So in that moment I immediately enrolled in a hospitality course in Dili, and I began to learn about how to work in a restaurant. I learnt about waitering and customer service, housekeeping and barista.

In October 2017, people started a barista skills competition. It was there I helped out as an assistant for the competition participants; cleaning the equipment, cups and ensuring there was water available. While helping the competitors, I began to see how professionals made coffee. This created the initiative inside me to learn about coffee like them. When I completed my studies, I started to think about looking for a job. Then, I submitted my CV to Agora Food Studio and I started to work there.

Working at Agora Food Studio, I began to learn about being a Barista from my team, especially from good friends like Tozy Goncalves, Julia Ximenes and Cesaltina Alou Tilman Araujo. They really supported me. Every day and every month, I learnt how to taste coffee, how to prepare coffee like a barista, and learnt the theories behind how to process coffee using different methods.

In October 2018, I began competing in the Festival Kafe Timor national barista competition and came second place! In October 2019, my team placed their trust on me and selected me to become a coffee judge for the national coffee quality competition; a competition that aims to improve the quality of coffee in Timor-Leste. Most recently this year, with my team, I began to visit other coffee plantations in Aileu (Projeto Quinta Portugal) , Atsabe (Cafe Organiku Atsabe) and Same. I began to see how the young generation in coffee created their coffee businesses. When I saw this, it also motivated me to become a the next generation in coffee, to improve my capacity so that I too, can create my own business on how to improve the quality of coffee in my country, Timor-Leste.”

From: lospalos, lautem

JULIO DA CUNHA

Meet Julio sometimes fondly called, Paun Boot! Originally from Laclubar, Julio has been working for Agora for 3.5 years, and is our baker and product manager.

Julio with two other Agora food innovators – Paula Torres and Alda Bakhita, they created a startup Timor-Mie to address malnutrition in the country and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (specifically SDG2).
Timor-Mie produces noodles from healthy local ingredients like moringa, sweet potato and pumpkin. In December 2019, they took their concept to the UNDP Asia-Pacific Youth Co: Lab Initiative. From a pool of more than 25 Timorese entrepreneurial teams they were voted the winner in the "start-up" category and will represent Timor-Leste and pitch their "Timor Mie" noodles to impact investors during a regional meet-up in Malaysia later in 2020.

As Head Baker, Julio is responsible for the bread, pasta, hot cross buns at Agora Food Studio. He has also made pizza which many call the best pizza in Dili! Within the next five years, Julio wants to build a bakery shop. He currently has invested 7020 professional hours working in hospitality and tourism, and with experience like that, we know he will be successful!

From: LACLUBAR, MANATUTO

IT Ninja

JUAN ANDRÉS MUSSINI

Juan is our ICT expert with +15 years experience developing technology strategies for international organizations with a human touch.

He fathered the SDG Impact Dashboard so that people could see the magic produced by Timor-Leste Food Lab and Agora Food Studio.

Co-founder and Business Mentor

MARK P. NOTARAS

A self-confessed “jack of all trades, master of none” Mark has finally realised after 15 years in international development, government policymaking and youth training, that he liked - and is very good at - mentoring, teaching, project managing, and overall keeping busy while being surrounded by food and coffee.

Outside of work, his creativity emerges as puns on t-shirts, he devours American politics, and cooks great food - in the salad world, he is renowned as the samurai master.

Co-founder and Food Innovation Mentor

ALVA K. LIM

Alva is a practitioner in food systems transformation and business mentorship. An expert eater, she loves sharing the biodiverse stories of food and its connection to people and place. Alva has a background in econometrics and public policy and an interest in systemic factors that frame food choices. She has worked for the Australian Treasury and United Nations University, and advises international development agencies and non-profits. 

When not researching, photographing or experimenting with rare ingredients with the team, Alva moonlights as a sometimes olive oil judge in Australia. Some days, she dreams of being an apprentice tamagoyaki chef if all else fails.

project officer, timor-leste food innovators exchange (TLFIX)

JOSH FERNANDEZ

Josh is the project officer for the Timor-Leste Food Innovators Exchange (TLFIX). TLFIX is a project funded by the Australian Government through their Launch program. Agora is working with schools to promote local food as a healthier alternative to current lunch foods. TLFIX provides training to farmer groups and school kitchen staff. Josh’s favorite part of working with TLFIX is providing training to empower communities to be more innovative with cooking with local foods. Through this position, Josh has built up his capacity, not only a project officer, but as a chef. He really enjoys watching communities change their behavior and switch from processed food to more nutritious foods that can be found in their farms. Josh is happy to have the opportunity to work with the really talented young Timorese staff at Agora Food Studio. 

HEAD CHEF

LEONILDA “NUQY” XIMENES

Inspired by the seasonal ingredients, Nuqy transforms the edible biodiversity of this tropical island into the sublime. Specialising in working with the many varieties of rice, corn and rare root vegetables found in the remote villages where she grew up. Nuqy has been Head Chef at Agora Food Studio Since 2019 and is a founding member of the organisation since its opening in 2016. As well as curating the restaurant's ever-changing menu, she is the lead facilitator of the Timor-Leste Food Innovators Exchange (TLFIX) project that works with Timorese entrepreneurs and communities to increase the presence of nutritious local foods in people's diets. 

From Quelicai, Baucau + Maliana, Bobonaro

HEAD BARISTA
HEAD ROASTER

ZITO “TOZY” GONCALVES

Tozy is a man who knows his way around coffee: a coffee farmer turned head barista turned coffee roaster, who became General Manager at Agora Food Studio (20190-2020). He has 7875 hours of professional work in hospitality and tourism – making him an expert in our team. Tozy’s love for his family and coffee combined has led him to create Dili’s latest coffee brand,
Gili Coffee. He describes Gili Coffee as “having a flavor of fresh coconut, palm sugar and light melon”.

Growing up, he helped his parents handpick the red cherries off trees surrounding their mountain home. They would sell to local buyers at just US0.35 cents/kg. One day his friend told him that Agora Food Studio was looking for new baristas. He had no idea what a barista was, nor ever tried an espresso coffee before. Within just a few months, he developed a real feel for tasting coffee and operating coffee machines. More importantly he revealed his intuition for working with, and mentoring his teammates. His curiosity, earnestness and ability to taste flavors landed him the position as Head Barista. 

From: DARULETE, LIQUICA

COFFEE SENSORY ANALYST
FINANCE OFFICER

JULIA XIMENES

2017 & 2018 NATIONAL BARISTA CHAMPION

Timor-Leste’s first and reigning barista champion. Official judge for the Timor-Leste Coffee Quality Competition. She has an incredible palate and vocabulary for describing the quality of coffee. Julia developed a coffee flavour wheel for Timor-Leste, with reference flavours that better represent flavours and textures that exist in the broader tropical region. Coffee, especially cold brew, is Julia's passion.

Julia completed her undergraduate degree in Finance, specialising in tax - her favourite topic.

From: laga, baucau

HEAD CHEF

lucia fernandes

Our Queen Tastemaker and Creative Leader. She makes Timorese ingredients dance on a plate. Outside of work, she is a biogas ambassador and trainer for the United Nations Development Programme.

FROM: SAME, MANUFAHE