The restaurants Natas Pastries, Barra Santos, and Nuno’s Bistro, between LA and Riverside, will have special menus and prices until April 28.

This is the second edition of Portugal Restaurant Week and the first to encompass Southern California, promoted by AICEP – Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal and the Consulate General of Portugal in San Francisco.

“The Portuguese gastronomic offer in California is of excellent quality and in particular the custard tarts have had significant visibility, particularly in films”, Teresa Fernandes, director of the AICEP office in San Francisco, told Lusa. “Highlighted by the latest success of Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone, in the film Poor Things, tasting this delicious Portuguese delicacy”.

Natas Pastries is the oldest Portuguese restaurant in LA and became famous precisely for its pastéis de nata, although it has a full meal menu. For Portugal Restaurant Week, the owner of the space, Fátima Marques, created a three-course menu for 49 dollars (46 euros). Choices include caldo verde, cod with cream, stew, casserole, feijoada, and pastel de nata.

“I tried to put a little bit of the variety we offer in the menu we have”, explained the owner of the café-restaurant to Lusa. “It is a representation of traditional dishes and obviously finishing the meal with our famous cream, and for me, it is still the best pastel de nata on this side of the Atlantic”.

The other LA restaurant to participate is Barra Santos, which will have a three-course menu for $45 (42 euros), including grilled sardines, cod pastries, pea salad, and steaks.

“We are excited to be part of Portuguese Restaurant Week,” owner Michael Santos told Lusa. “It’s important for us to showcase some of our country’s incredible food, wine and culture.”

Barra Santos opened in 2023 in Cypress Park and since then has been a meeting point for those who want to try sausage, cod, and chickpea salad and try Portuguese wines.

“It’s great to see awareness of Portuguese culture growing in California. This year will be the first year that Southern California will be included in this event and we hope it will continue to grow in the coming years”, highlighted Michael Santos.

According to Teresa Fernandes, the experience in San Francisco Bay was very successful in 2023 and justified the expansion.

Growth

“The consumption of Portuguese wine and gourmet products in the USA has seen constant growth and consumers recognise the quality of Portuguese products largely due to the visits they make to our country and the pleasant gastronomic experiences they have while there”, she said.

At Nuno’s Bistro, which in 2021 was considered the best European cuisine restaurant by Inland Empire magazine, owner Joey Nuno Medeiros also created a special menu for 65 dollars (61 euros). In addition to the cod pastries and chicken with chilli, which are permanent items on the menu, consumers will be able to taste caldo verde and grandmother's pudding.

The person in charge hopes that the offer will attract “more people who are interested in discovering Portuguese culture and us Portuguese”.

Further north, the participating restaurants will be Petiscos Downtown and Petiscos Little Portugal (São José), La Salette and Tasca Tasca (Sonoma), and Uma Casa (São Francisco).

AICEP believes that initiatives like this contribute to promoting the growth of exports of wine and agri-food products and positioning Portugal as a tourism and investment destination.