Tying a nation to Petersham with a name change

For immigrants, locals and visitors alike, Petersham has always been “Little Portugal”, but an official name change will make it permanent.

Raquel Amaral of Sweet Belem Cake Boutique in Petersham. Their Portuguese Tart is known as one of Sydney’s best and soon it will reside in “Little Portugal”. Image credit: Jenifer Jagielski

Petersham is filled with immigrant stories of good food, great sacrifice and shifting success.

This heritage will now be honoured through an official name change.

Petersham’s foodie neighbourhood will soon be known as “Little Portugal”.

Inner West council voted unanimously to submit the name to the Geographic Names Board at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Portuguese restaurant Silvas at 1/82-86 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham will be one of the popular food spots in “Little Portugal”. Image credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“Little Portugal” will cover the main Portuguese food hub in Petersham which includes the entirety of Audley St (about 650m), New Canterbury Rd between Audley St and Hunter St (about 350m), and the junction at Audley St and Trafalgar St.

One of the Portuguese restaurants in soon-to-be Little Portugal is Gloria’s Cafe and Restaurant.

Maria Gloria Belinha opened the Audley St cafe in 1988, when the Portuguese district had barely formed.

A new Portuguese immigrant “in search of a new life”, she had recently lost her husband to cancer and had four young children at her ankles.

Gloria Belinha and son Alcino de Sa in Gloria’s Cafe in Petersham.

Gloria Belinha, serving traditional Portuguese food, opened the cafe in 1988 and her daughter and son have helped run it since.

She wanted to open a cafe that felt like home. There was nowhere that the Portuguese of the neighbourhood could come and drink their important after-lunch or after-dinner coffees or eat traditional meals such as Bacalhau.

“Petersham grew from there because there was nothing but maybe an accountant and a real estate agent.” Gloria’s second eldest son Alcino de Sa said. He now runs the restaurant.

Although Mrs Belinha is retired, she still makes sure to tell her son how to run the joint, “as a European mother does”.

Mr de Sa said that the Portuguese in Petersham are declining but he thinks the name-change “will help a lot”.

Gloria’s Cafe serves Alentejana: fried pork with clams, coriander and diced potatoes.

Tapas plates (prawns, squid and sardines) from Gloria's Cafe on Audley st. Petersham.

“There were probably 15 to 20 Portuguese restaurants ten years ago, and now there are about six or seven,” he said.

“The older generations are now dying off and younger generations have been Australian-ised. They prefer pizza, burgers and sushi, as opposed to traditional dishes.”

“When we convince the young Portuguese kids that the food is good, they are reminded of their childhoods and their grandparents,” he said.

“For the Portuguese who migrate, they don’t even know there is a community here in Petersham,” Mr de Sa said.

This is a far cry from the earlier Portuguese immigrants who, Mr de Sa said would catch a taxi straight from the airport to the cafe.

The staff at Gloria’s cafe would help them find work and get them settled.

Regulars sitting outside Gloria’s Cafe in Petersham.

Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne said the reason for the name change is “primarily about cultural recognition”.

“For more than half a century, Portuguese migrants have come to Petersham and built a community. This ensures that in another 50 years, kids will still know about and understand the contribution made by migrants,” he said.

But Cr Byrne also thinks dubbing the area Little Portugal will have a “positive economic impact”.

“There’s still a very strong hospitality sector, known across Sydney. Formalising the name will help with inbound tourism both inside Australia and from Portugal,” he said.

Cr Byrne suggested “Little Portugal” after the Inner West council entered into a friendship agreement with Portugal last year.

Other cafes in “Little Portugal” include Silvas, Frangos Portuguese chicken and Sweet Belem Cake Boutique with their renowned Portuguese tart.

Sweet Belem serves up pastries and Portuguese tarts. Image credit: Jenifer Jagielski

Musical performers at the annual Bairro Portuguese Petersham Food and Wine Fair.

Each year the council hosts a Bairro Portuguese Petersham Festival in “Little Portugal”, which this year was televised to over 50 countries via the Portuguese national broadcaster.

The Trafalgar St metro station also features a ceramic Portuguese mural by Portuguese artist Luis Geraldes.

Although some of the public preferred “Portuguese Town”, Little Portugal “is the preferred

name”.

The council will endure no additional costs when they install new street signs in the precinct.