Phantom Gourmet: Tia Maria's European Cafe In New Bedford
NEW BEDFORD (CBS) -- Located along the cobblestone streets of historic downtown New Bedford is a place named Tia Maria's European Cafe, where a bubbly young woman is living her dream.
That woman's name is Jessica Coelho.
"Coelho means rabbit in Portuguese, so it's Jessica Rabbit," she says with a laugh.
Jessica is proudly Portuguese. Her parents immigrated to the US in the 1970s, but as a teen, Jessica would spend her summers back in the old country.
"Most people go to like summer camp, my parents would send me to Portugal," she says. "And I absolutely loved it. I love the culture, I love the ambiance. You go to the coffee shop in the morning, that's where you meet your friends, and I kind of wanted and always felt like this is what I want to do, I hope to one day have my own little cafe."
And a few years ago, her dream came true, when she opened Tia Maria's--serving breakfast and lunch everyday, and dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.
"We know our customers by name, we know what they order, we know what time they're coming in, and sometimes they come two, three times a day," Coelho says.
In the morning they come for fresh baked pastries, fresh brewed coffee, and hearty breakfast dishes. At lunch, the burgers and sandwiches are bursting with meat, and dinner showcases plenty of flavor-packed Portuguese classics.
"Portuguese food tends to be garlicky, spicy, very flavorful," Coelho says. "A lot of my recipes in my menu are from my mom and my dad, from what they brought over from Portugal."
Mom and Dad don't just provide the recipes--they also help with the cooking back in Tia Maria's cramped kitchen, where dad is constantly cutting potatoes and mom is always working the stove, making sure everything tastes like it's straight from Portugal.
"Oh it's home cooking," says Coelho. "So if you're looking for an authentic Portuguese meal it doesn't get any more authentic that this."
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