Nearly 10 years ago, Fatima Marques, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, searched Los Angeles for pasteis de nata, the most famous of Portuguese pastries. She discovered a void in the city’s culinary landscape and true inspiration for a specialty pastry shop. On June 10, 2005, Fatima celebrated the grand opening of Natas Pastries, the only Portuguese bakery in L.A. Named after its signature pastry, nata, means cream, has an exceptionally crisp puff pastry shell that is perfectly balanced by a custard filling resembling crème brûlée .The shop quickly became the talk of the Los Angeles Portuguese community and a neighborhood favorite on Ventura Blvd.
