A Taste of Lisbon in Fort Greene
After a trip to Portugal, George Kaya was hooked on pasteis de nata
The Deligram shines a spotlight on the many incredible food artisans in New York and beyond. In our last feature, we highlighted Cristi Diaz of Mi Best Friend’s Flan, who makes her grandmother’s best friend’s recipe out of her Greenpoint apartment.
After a break this summer, we’re back with another story about a Brooklyn resident making inspired sweet treats. For this issue, we spoke to George Kaya, the baker behind Lisbonata, who has been selling pasteis de nata at farmers’ markets across Brooklyn.
The Product: Pasteis de nata, a Portuguese custard tart, in both traditional and special flavors.
How to Buy: Pre-order on lisbonata.com for guaranteed tarts (and to cut the line)at Fort Greene Park on Saturday or McGolrick Park on Sundays. Or, test your luck in person.
Price: Traditional tarts are $21 for 6, and special flavors are $22 for 6. (For 12, prices are $40 -$41.)
The Deligram Pick: The traditional is George’s favorite, and the most popular. (The second-most popular is the Pistachio Cream.)
What inspired you to launch?
Food was always in my life, because I am from a large family. I grew up in Turkey, but left almost 15 years ago. After going to different countries, I realized that food is something that's still connected to my origins, my roots, because I missed [the] flavors. I was trying to cook something that I learned from my mother or bake something that I really like that I couldn't find in the countries I lived in. I studied advertising at university, but after some time working in the industry, I realized that I was looking for something that I can be good at and I can enjoy. So I quit my job and I went to culinary school.
I moved here from Poland, where I ran a successful brunch spot. For the past few years I've been somewhat of a nomad, spending time in various places, including Lisbon, before finally settling in NYC. I am very new to the city and the country, it's very different from what I’m used to. I always dreamed of experiencing life in New York City, so I applied for the green card lottery and won on my first attempt. I took this as a sign and decided to make the move.
Pasteis de nata is my favorite dessert. The first time I had it was in about 2015, when I visited Lisbon for the first time. It was flaky, very creamy, sweet; it was perfect. I started making them at home and sharing them with friends. Doing it at home is very difficult and kind of painful, because the lamination is very tricky with temperature. I just started making them almost six months ago in a commercial space.
In advertising you create a story, you create the brand, and the marketing and so on. With Lisbonata, I create something through baking, but also do the marketing and advertising. I did the branding and I worked with a designer. I always get inspiration from my roots, but I also like to combine what I am currently experiencing. When I create the special flavors, there is a little bit of inspiration from baklava, because it's also buttery and flaky, but New York is a very creative city and you can just play around with things to find. I get ingredients from the farmer’s market, like raspberries, and do weekend specials and try to include local brands.
Biggest challenge for the business
I am very new to the city, and it's very different from what I’m used to. Everything at the beginning was very challenging and still is, but I knew that I wanted to do this. I have the vision and I know what kind of experience I want to deliver.
I had to figure out everything by myself, like starting the business and all these taxes, the hiring process, everything. The other thing was that it wasn't a physical location. I was trying to figure out a [business] model, because I bake in a commercial space where there is no front door or something, so I started going to farmers’ markets. I think the most challenging part was starting a business process without knowing the country, the law, and so on.
I'm very grateful for being in a new country, still trying to figure out differences and the lifestyle, but people are so welcoming and supportive. I'm very grateful for the Fort Greene community especially. We started there and I was selling very little, but then we were always sold out.
George’s farmers’ market haul
I start with the greens. I have to have greens, especially in the morning for breakfast. Something that I remember from my childhood is having good cucumbers, good tomatoes, some good feta cheese, some parsley and mint. Mainly I go for veggies and fruits, like recently I had blueberries and I actually made the blueberry nata for McGolrick Park in Greenpoint. Sometimes I see some small, local makers — I like this yogurt brand, White Moustache. They have such a good labneh with spices in it and they have kind of an Iranian-style yogurt. The consistency is so good. I eat a lot of yogurt, it's a very Turkish thing. So it was something that I was missing being abroad. But this labneh reminds me of our sour yogurt, which is very similar. I get them from McGolrick Park, they're there every Sunday.
Lisbon!
I love Lisbon because of the food and lifestyle. It’s the city that has everything actually. I could go buy a traditional pastel de nata or I could go to an Australian coffee shop and have brunch. It has both things, modern and the past, so I like that, and it's a very pretty city as well.
For a pastel de nata: Castro and Manteigaria
For traditional Portuguese food: Casa da Ìndia
For morning jumpstart: Marquise, Comoba, and Dramatico
For wine + tapas: BytheWine and Pomme Eatery
Favorite New York spots!
For baked goods: Supermoon Bakehouse, Radio Bakery (focaccia sandwiches!), Nick + Sons and L’appartement 4F
For “kinda good coffee in New York, it’s a bit hard to find honestly”: La Cabra, Partners Coffee, and Variety Coffee
For food: Theodora, Nura (especially for brunch), and Frankel’s
Follow The Deligram + Read Past Issues
An enthusiastic selection of stories about food makers, founded by Anna Polonsky from Polonsky & Friends and Teddy Wolff.
Story by Chanel Parks.
Photos by Teddy Wolff for The Deligram.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.