On a recent morning in New Bedford, Mass., the line at Tia Maria’s European Café, snaked out the door. The draw? Not just the strong espresso at this family-owned Portuguese spot, but the cafe’s decidedly modern twist: the Nata Latte, a sweet iced latte flavored like Portugal’s iconic pastel de nata tarts and crowned with a custard tart itself, speared through the straw.
For the traditional espresso-drinking vovó (Portuguese grandmother), it might border on sacrilege. But for a new generation, it’s exactly the kind of playful reinvention that signals how Portuguese traditions here are not just preserved, but reimagined.
This part of New England has long been home to a large population of Portuguese immigrants. Now, surging travel to Portugal has brought fresh attention — and appetite — for Portuguese culture here. TAP Air Portugal, the nation’s flag airline, carried a record 1.59 million passengers between North America and Portugal in 2024, an 8.9 percent year-over-year increase, according to Aero Crew News. Travelers are returning to the United States craving the flavors, music and heritage they encountered abroad — and finding it in towns like New Bedford, Fall River, Mass., and Providence, R.I. Here’s how to explore that legacy.
New Bedford: The Whaling Capital
New Bedford, once the heart of the global whale oil trade, ranked among the world’s wealthiest cities per capita by the 1840s. Drawn by the promise of work aboard whaling and fishing vessels, Azorean islanders, as well as seafaring people from the mainland and Madeira, forged new lives along the New England coast, building a legacy in the towns that still endures.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Tasting a New Flavor of Portugal, in New England appeared first on New York Times.
