Senhor António Nata grew up in Portugal where the pastelaria was a daily institution — a stop on the way to work, a place to stand at the counter with a bica and a pastel de nata before anything else happened. The pastel de nata is not a fancy pastry. It is a precise one. […]

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Tia Beatriz Queijadinha grew up in the Azores where the dairy was exceptional by necessity — nine volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic, green year-round, with cows that produced milk rich enough to make everything taste better. Queijadas — small pastries made from fresh cheese, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon — were not a […]

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