Portuguese Restaurateurs Finds Lack in the U.S.

On Feb. 6, Fernando Melo fulfilled his lifelong dream by opening Pizzeria As-Ilhas in Inman Square--28 years to the day after he and his family landed in Logan Airport after emigrating from the Portuguese-speaking Azore Islands.

"I always had a dream to open a small restaurant or pizzeria, and now my dream has come true," says Melo, with a hint of a Portuguese accent.

Melo arrived in Boston as a boy of 15 from the island of Terceira with his parents, three of his four brothers and two of his three sisters.

His transition to the United States was not easy.

"I cried a lot," Melo says. "I came to a country so big, [and] I am from a little island," he says.

Melo's discomfiture was enhanced by the New England winter.

"I had never seen snow before in my life," he says. "There was a big storm the night we left. I didn't know what the white stuff was."

Melo went to work immediately, although he spoke no English.

"I always kept my address in my pocket, so if I got lost I could show it to someone and get home," he says.

Melo's first full-time job was in a bakery in Inman Square. At first, he was ashamed to interact with customers.

"I used to hide," he says. "I didn't want to be in the middle of a conversation."

Melo, whose formal education ended at fourth grade, learned English gradually in his day-to-day interactions. While his spoken English is now flawless, he can only "write a little bit [and] read a little bit."

The Cambridge Portuguese community helped to ease Melo's transition to America.

"We helped each other when we got here. The Portuguese people taught us the first steps," he says.

In addition, Melo found refuge in soccer, a lifelong passion.

"I got involved in soccer here, [where I could] meet people and create friends," he says.

Although Melo no longer plays the game, his passion for it remains undiminished. He gushes about his son's talents, and serves customers in a World Cup shirt. He even attended a few matches of the 1994 tournament at Foxboro Stadium.

In recent years Melo has rooted for the American team, as Portugal has failed to qualify, but he recalls the greatness of the 1966 Portuguese national team as if it were yesterday.

"I can still hear the goals," he says.

While they were dating, Melo's wife would come to watch his soccer matches. They were married in 1975, and have one son and one daughter.

All four family members work at Pizzeria As-Ilhas, but no one puts in more time than Melo himself.

For Melo, it is a labor of love. Although Pizzeria As-Ilhas has only been open for a month, Melo says he has always had a flair for cooking.

"I made pizzas for the kids. I never bought pizza, and then [I started on] calzones," he says.

The death of Melo's father six years ago inspired him to follow his dream of opening his own restaurant. Many of the decorations in the pizzeria were made by his father.

"It was always in the back of my mind. Someday...," he reminisces.

Melo scoured the classified ads, and "then, one Sunday," he noticed an ad for a space at 1261 Cambridge St., and opened the pizzeria of his dreams.

Located about 10 minutes from Harvard, Inman Square forms the perfect backdrop for Melo's restaurant, as the neighborhood has been home to generations of Portuguese immigrants.

The interior of Pizzeria As-Ilhas-- "Pizza of the Islands"-- evokes the island atmosphere of Melo's childhood. The walls are covered with woodcarvings of dancing children, made by Melo's father. He had been a carpenter in Terceira and ran a small souvenir shop. Melo began working for his father when he was nine.

A large wooden map of the Azores dominates one wall of the pizzeria, and the other is covered with pictures of the islands, showing green and blue lagoons, white churches and majestic volcanic mountain ranges.

The restaurant also contains hand-carved horse-drawn carts and memorabilia of bullfights, a favorite pastime in the Azores.

A small picture of Melo and his family arriving at Logan Airport in 1971 hangs to the right of the door.

Although Melo's English is now flawless, and his children "understand more than they speak," Melo still keeps the television above the counter tuned to a Portuguese station.

Pizzeria As-Ilhas has the standard fare of any pizzeria--pizza, subs, calzones and pasta--but Melo also experiments with Portuguese fare.

"Cambridge has a big Portuguese population; I try to mix Portuguese [into the menu]," he says.

On weekends, Melo showcases his love for Portuguese cuisine with a rotating menu.

Common Portuguese dishes include cod and other fish and meats, with seasonings of distinctive spices, olive oil and hot pepper.

Some of the rotating dishes include bacalhau, a codfish stew with potatoes, onions, garlic, green pepper and spices, smothered in olive oil and vinegar; polvo, an octopus dish with potatoes, onions, and red and white wine; and alcatra, which includes big chunks of beef, pepper corns, smoked bacon, onions, tomatoes, and red wine, placed in a clay pot and baked for three hours.

Melo says he learned his traditional recipes from his mother and grandmother, but he adds his own flair. "Everybody has a secret," he says.

He has found that owning a small restaurant is a lot of work--since Pizzeria As-Ilhas's opening, he has only taken time off on Wednesdays, when he leaves work at 1 p.m. The rest of the week, he is behind the counter or over the stove.

"Work doesn't escape me," he says.

Melo says his Portuguese heritage has helped prepare him for a life of hard work.

"The Portuguese people...have a lot of pride," he says. "Where we come from, a small country, we knew what hard work means."

But in the United States, Melo enjoys the benefits of keeping busy, which are not always guaranteed in the Azores.

"When you work here you see results," he says. "If you manage your money right, save a little, you can retire comfortably. There you struggle a little to survive."

Now that Pizzeria As-Ilhas has opened, it is Melo's fondest dream to return with his family to the islands of his boyhood.

"I miss it a lot, and tell stories to my kids," he says. "I want to go back for three weeks to do the things I used to do when I was 12 or 13--go fishing, walk along the mountains."

Until then, Melo has contented himself by creating a little taste of the Azores in Inman Square.