BuUh! (Yes, it is a scare.)

I think, one of the biggest achievements one could wish for, is knowing that people they love are proud of what they are doing (or did). It is that joy underlined in the tales recited by people about what their friends have achieved, it is that shimmer in the eyes of a mother talking good things about her son. Honestly, I have not done anything special but I enjoy knowing that I have people projecting that proudness towards me. It is a great motivator and everyone wishes to be lucky enough to have that feeling constantly (including me). I saw that same shimmer in the eyes of Mrs Ivone Lopes, when she was talking about her cafe and how her son made it all possible.

If you live in Porto, you must have realised how rapidly it is changing. Almost every day I come across new places. There were a few that were ahead of their time and established themselves before the boom. Buuh!, an Anglo-Portuguese cafe opened up 10 years ago, when Porto was not known by the majority. I can just imagine, the hurdles people must have gone through to make a restaurant/cafe work (well, any place related to the tourism industry). This place though, anytime I go here, it feels as if it could have opened up yesterday. The ambience is really calming, architecturally it feels fresh, the menu is charming enough and of course, at the heart of it are Ivone’s cakes. It all exists because of her son, Ricardo Lopes. He went to get his doctorate at Oxford, England about 15years ago. Spending time in London, he came across many student cafes and was mesmerised by them. There were no such spaces in Porto and after being inspired by the English concept, decided to open a similar one back home. 

Ivone’s family had always owned and worked at traditional Portuguese bakeries. Eventually, the bakery that they owned was sold off and Ivone with her husband, started living a retired life. When Ricardo set the wheels in motion for the cafe to be opened he needed someone to run it. He saw how his parents were not that active anymore. They already had a background with bakeries and in favour of his parents having a more active life, he offered them this space. Actually, Ricardo started buying chairs/table/stuff for the cafe and stored them in a garage in London, before they had a physical space. You could never tell which areas in Porto would flourish the most in future (at that time). Luckily, where they set up shop is now a great area. It is not extremely central and still has a good flow of people. 

After acquiring the space, they moved all the furniture bought in London and starting working on it. Brought in the suppliers, looked for the best ingredients and decided to have Teas on their menu (going along with the English aesthetic). A Tea producer in Paris really suited them, they went there to start a contract but were turned down. Again, Porto was not known and the producer didn’t want their product in any random place. To convince the producer, they had to come back, take proper steps to prove the existence of the cafe and that Porto was a decent enough city. It worked. They serve a few good options for lunch, decent pastry, fantastic cakes and yes, they have a great selection of teas. Ricardo wanted to create a space where students could study, people could work remotely and delivered on a very well, all rounded cafe.

One thing that has interested me, is the name of this cafe. Turns out, it really means “buuh”, as if someone was trying to scare you. When Ricardo and his friends were brainstorming some names for the cafe, a kid ran by them and tried to scare them. He shouted “Buuh!” And the name stuck (It is very appealing for me. If I see any restaurant with a catchy name that I don’t understand, I am definitely going there). Now, If you are looking for a quite, relaxing place to do your thing, definitely give them a try. I always see people working from here (It is quite fitting for dates too). On a nice, sunny day, my favourite thing would be to sit outside, get a cup of coffee and enjoy a raspberry-chocolate cake. Luckily, Ivone’s favourite thing is to make those cakes.