The history of Provincetown’s Portuguese Bakery is nearly as
shrouded in mystery as the recipes for its famous pastries. While
everyone agrees it has been around “forever,” no one seems quite
certain of a date. One of the... More
The history of Provincetown’s Portuguese Bakery is nearly as
shrouded in mystery as the recipes for its famous pastries. While
everyone agrees it has been around “forever,” no one seems quite
certain of a date. One of the current owners, Ofelia Bago, says
simply, “The bakery has always been Portuguese.”
Most local guesses date the small storefront at 299 Commercial
Street back to about 1900, when a Portuguese immigrant opened up
shop baking family recipes to feed the growing community of
hungry fishing families. Back then, the offerings were simpler:
Portuguese sweet bread, hard rolls and Vienna bread were likely
all that lined the shelves. In 1976, when previous owners Tony
and Mina Ferreira moved to Provincetown from Coimbra, a
slightly inland city near Portugal’s southwestern coast, and leased
the business from family friends, pastries hit the shelves. “Tony
introduced pastries,” says Ofelia. Judging by the continual line
stretching from the counter register up front to the back kitchen
door, the addition was a success.
Ofelia and her husband Tibor, who is originally from Hungary,
are both pastry chefs and have carried on the tradition since
buying the shop along with Ofelia’s parents and sister, Joe,
Dina and Helena Ferreira, two years ago. While the shared name
with the prior owners is a coincidence (Ferreira is to Portugal
as Baker is to the Cape), their shared recipes are not.
