In ‘84, eleven years after my father was born, a three-walled luncheonette in Barra do Piraí, Rio, began to run seven days a week, from eight in the morning to eleven at night: Pastelaria Nova Barra.

My grandparents owned the luncheonette; although, like most Chinese people in the twentieth century looking for higher-paying work, they moved from their farm in Toison, China to Rio, Brazil one after the other: Ta Chen, my grandfather, had already been living in Rio for a handful of years when Mei Chen, my grandmother, flew across the Pacific with their four kids. Their luncheonette was one of a few shops in the town centre, so small enough that everyone knew everyone.

Like a diner, much of the food was pre-prepared and presented behind a glass display, alongside an island for customers to eat at. Since Pastelaria Nova Barra was open from the morning to late at night, the bestsellers differed. To my father, one of the best was coxinha, a Brazilian croquette filled with chicken and onions, deep-fried and mouth-watering. Pastel, a quadrilateral pastry filled with a variety of meat and vegetables, was another staple both at their business and in Brazilian street food. The famous Coca-Cola was sold in glass bottles back then: the taste incomparably better than our screaming red cans now. However, Guaraná Antarctica, a soda made up of the fruit guarana, and my father’s most favored drink, was unparalleled. As I’m presently listening to him speak, he says that we (my younger brother and I) have actually tried it before; and though I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, my brother confirms his claim, telling me that the taste of guarana faintly resembles the taste of cherry, to which my father agrees.

From what was once only a figment of my father’s knowledge, Pastelaria Nova Barra’s existence has withstood the test of time and has reached me, a young girl in the United States, who has never even once set foot in the luncheonette.

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