Vadas’ freshly baked pasteis de nata’s. PHOTO: Instagram/@vadas_smokehouse
A local chef will open South Africa’s first dedicated pasteis de nata café in Stellenbosch, in early November this year.
Vadas Pasteis De Nata & Café, founded by PJ Vadas who also owns Vadas Smokehouse & Bakery on Spier Wine Farm, will be located on Ryneveld Street.
According to Vadas, this takeaway spot will focus on Vadas’ original pasteis de nata, a custard tart that originated from Portugal, and coffee from Tribe Coffee Roasting.
“Our pasteis de nata is a pastry which has grown in popularity for some time now. I believe in keeping things simple. We offer an incredible product, which we believe to be the best in the world and we want to share this with people,” Vadas said.
These golden cups of crunchy and flaky pastry enrobe a creamy decadence of custard, lightly caramelised and sprinkled with cinnamon, he added.
“Every country has its version of a custard tart. A milk tart is very South African, the French have a flan and the Portuguese have the pasteis de nata,” said Vadas.
Vadas Pasteis De Nata & Café, founded by PJ Vadas will be located at 36 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch. MAP: Anke Nothnagel
According to Jake Easton, the founder of Tribe Coffee Roasting, Tribe Coffee has been working with Vadas for the past seven years and eagerly teamed up with the Vadas team on this project.
“PJ has been talking about opening a pasteis café in [Cape] Town or [Stellenbosch] for more than three years and when the opportunity was raised that we join him, there was no way I would walk away from the chance to be a part of a Vadas’ restaurant adventure,” said Easton.
Pasteis are served across Cape Town but none of them are nearly as good as Vadas’, Easton said.
“[Vadas] has used a recipe to make every Portugese mother and Italian grandmother jealous and hungry,” said Easton.
According to Vadas, superior ingredients are used in his pasteis de natas, which makes it so good.
“We are a Stellenbosch family and love the town. We only use Farmer Angus’ outdoor eggs for our custard,” said Vadas.
While there is a risk in specialising, the move to open this particular cafe is a smart one, said Natalie Wilson, head of food at Eat Out, the South African food publication.
It is also smart to focus on Stellenbosch, a small location with a high demand, to test the concept, said Wilson.
“Focusing on a hugely popular treat like pasteis de nata is a good bet, they are a perennial favourite at markets and [Vadas’] version of pasteis de nata already have a dedicated following which helps too,” Wilson said.