Who makes the best pastel de nata? Fall River or New Bedford? Here's who won.
When it comes to Portuguese desserts, competition in the SouthCoast is fierce. And pasteis de nata, traditional Portuguese custard cups, are at the top of the list for many local lovers of sweets.
So when Fall River and New Bedford tourism groups recently challenged residents to pick their favorite nata maker, it was no easy task.
But in this friendly battle between sister cities, dubbed the Pastel de Nata Throwdown, there could only be one winner.
Foodies came, they scarfed, they conquered — because in a pastry-tasting competition, everyone's a winner.
Battle of the bakeries:Pastel de Nata Throwdown is underway. Which bakery will come out on top?
But there was one bakery who tipped the scales in terms of votes. Following a month-long quest to determine who does nata best, the results have been tallied and the people have spoken.
The first-place winner and nata champ is New Bedford's Goulart Square Bakery. The 413 Rivet St. spot garnered a majority of the 898 overall votes, claiming a trophy and bragging rights.
Maria Lawton - The Azorean Green Bean visited Goulart Square Gaspar Bakery to taste their entry in the pasteis de nata throwdown. Makes us want to get out and do more of our own research! Which bakery will you try next?
Posted by New Bedford Food Tours on Tuesday, February 14, 2023
The Nata Throwdown announcement was posted Wednesday morning on both the Viva Fall River and New Bedford Food Tours Facebook pages.
"Of course I wanted a Fall River bakery to win, but there's always next time," said Patti Rego, executive director of Viva Fall River, which teamed up with New Bedford Food Tours and Destination New Bedford on the tourism-focused contest promotion that launched in February.
Even though Fall River didn't take top prize, the competition achieved what it set out to do, Rego said. Many participants visited both cities, and people stepped outside familiar territory to experience different places. Rego said she was overwhelmed by the great response.
"It really blew our minds... people were super into it. I had to reprint the cards three times because I kept running out of cards," said Rego, referring to postcards folks got stamped at each participating location they visited.
Coming in second, and taking the Fall River crown, was Europa Pastries and Coffee Shop, at 65 Columbia St., which brought in 177 votes.
Europa marks a milestone:Authentic, European-style cafe experience a recipe for success at Fall River shop
Rego said she's not letting their accomplishment go unrecognized. She plans to award Europa, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last month with a customer appreciation event, with a special trophy of their own for being Fall River's champ.
Out of nine participating bakeries, six were from Fall River and three from New Bedford. Fall River bakeries included Barcelos Bakery, Europa Pastries & Coffee Shop, Leddy's Bakery, Modern Bakery, Portugalia Marketplace and United Liberty.
In New Bedford, Goulart Square (413 Rivet St.) was joined by Economy Bakery and Sunrise Bakery.
Folks who took part, and got their card stamped at each bakery, also had the chance to walk away a winner with a prize package that include a New Bedford Food Tour ticket (valued at $80), a $50 gift card to the Viva Fall River Pop Up Shop, and a one-month membership from SouthCoast YMCA.
As customers showed up to satisfy their sweet tooth — popping in with cards in hand, some from as far away as Boston — Rego said bakeries told her they saw an influx of visitors following the contest launch.
"For me, that's a big sign of success," she said. "To come from Boston for natas, that just more evidence for me that we've got some special things here and if we package them correctly and promote them correctly people will come."
For Rego, it was fun to be able to meet Maria Lawton, local cookbook author and TV host known by many as the Azorean Greenbean, and work with the Portuguese Kids comedy troupe on videos teasing the Nata Throwdown that they filmed in both New Bedford and Fall River.
"They could not be nicer," she said.
Tying into the Nata Throwdown, Viva Fall River held a tasting event last month at their pop-up shop on South Main Street, which Rego said was "one of their best attended events by far."
Four out of the six bakeries Fall River bakeries were represented and not a nata was left at the end of the night. But the best part, Rego said, was hearing the back and forth among attendees about their personal nata preferences.
"It was interesting... I never realized how different a nata could be from bakery to bakery," she said. "I learned a lot."
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River, New Bedford bakeries vie for pastel de nata crown. See who won.
