Despite the vast cultural diversity within Boston’s culinary scene, Cristina Quintino, born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, still noticed a glaring gap in its selection after reflecting back on her childhood: traditional Portuguese pastries.
Quintino and her husband, Stephen Chen, were dedicated to bringing this idea to fruition. Their mission led them to open Flake Bakery, which serves authentic “pastel de nata,” a Portuguese egg custard tart, along with a wide selection of coffee.
The husband-and-wife duo celebrated the grand opening of their bakery, located at 1298 Beacon St., last week.
Carmen Pullella, a Brookline-based therapist and a friend of Quintino, showed up to support her during the opening event.
“I know that they’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and I’ve heard a lot of the ins and outs of the process of opening this bakery and the lengths to which they’ve had to go,” Pullella said. “It’s really exciting to be here and support them.”
Throughout their journey, Quintino and Chen faced numerous obstacles, which even caused them to delay Flake’s grand opening from its original date this past spring, Quintino said.
These challenges were mainly caused by “city paperwork, a little injury on [her] husband’s end, [and] plenty of [other] things,” she said.
In spite of this, the couple persevered. Now, they have a bakery that transports customers back to Quintino’s childhood with her homemade pastries, Portuguese ceramic-inspired murals and an environment that Puellella said “feels very homey” and is “cozy and welcoming.”
The effort small-business owners put into making their entrepreneurial dreams a reality is something that goes under appreciated by most people, Pullella said.
Puellella said the couple also received support from Quintino’s sister-in-law, a local artist who owns a tattoo parlor in Boston. She showed her support by painting a mural on the bakery’s white tiled walls.
The mural, painted solely using shades of blue, depicts a bird, an olive tree branch and two iconic symbols of Portugal: sardines and a caravel. The mural’s art style mimics Portugal’s historically famous ceramic art, adding to the bakery’s sense of authenticity.
One customer, Hannah Oh, a senior at Boston University, used to frequent Esmai’s Cafe, the previous storefront that Flake replaced.
Although her go-to cafe had been replaced, she lauded its replacement — she called Flake’s atmosphere “sleek” and even added that “it kind of feels similar to the older cafe.”
Another customer, Mariia Yelizarova, a program manager at Uber and a BU 2015 alum, said she discovered the bakery online two weeks prior to its opening.
“When they created their Instagram, right away it popped up on my feed, so I followed them,” Yelizarova said. “Since I really love this pastry, I was hoping to come for the opening.”
After visiting the bakery on its opening day, Yelizarova said she was satisfied with how it turned out.
“The pastry is really great, and I love the atmosphere,” she said. “It’s just a cool little place on Beacon Street, so I’m really excited that it opened up.”
Since the grand opening, the bakery has sold out of its signature pastel de nata several times, reflecting its popularity as an addition to Boston’s flourishing culinary scene.
“A lot of us might not realize how much work goes into opening a small business,” Pullella said. “I’m really excited for the community of Brookline and Boston to have this spot.”