Kasey's Dish Worth Driving To: Natas in Sherman Oaks

As some of you know, my nationality is 1/2 French and 1/2 Portuguese, so not only does that mean a whole lot of temper... it means a whole lot of talent in the kitchen too!
In the past, I've shared a few of my favorite Portuguese recipes (click here to see) but a few weeks ago I discovered something even better...  Natas Pastries in Sherman Oaks. Natas is a full out authentic Portuguese Restaurant that has everything this little Port-a-gee could desire!

I had the opportunity to sit down with Natas owner, Fatima Marques to enjoy a few traditional dishes that reminded me of the restaurants I grew-up going to in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
In a matter of minutes, Fatima made me feel right at home. As I sipped on a passion fruit Sumol (traditional Portuguese soda) we chatted about her background as a professional dancer, which is what brought her to LA from mainland Portugal. She noticed that there was a lack of Portuguese cuisine in Los Angeles (tell me about it!) so she decided to make some of her favorite pastries from back home, most specifically, the natas. For those who are unfamiliar with natas, it's pretty much heaven in a pastry shell, but we'll get to that in a bit.

We started started our culinary journey with the Chouriços Grelhados which is an appetizer of assorted Portuguese sausages and picked vegetables. This is most like the linguica and chourico I grew up with and love using a bunch of my recipes. Warning... your mouth will start salivating in 3...2....1....