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Pastelaria Benard

Chás, doces e Mulheres contra a corrente

Pastelaria... perdão. Recomecemos. “A Patisserie Benard foi fundada em 1868 pelo Sr. Élie Benard, com estabelecimento na Rua do Loreto próximo do Calhariz. Em 1902, o negócio passa para as mãos de Casimiro Benard e seus irmãos Pedro e Elias e no mesmo ano transferiu-se para as actuais instalações, ocupando o estabelecimento e os fornos de uma outra pastelaria em tempos já existente no local - a Gratidão - especializada em frutas cristalizadas”.

Contra a corrente este é, sobretudo, um local para senhoras até à II Guerra Mundial. As damas, talvez como sempre devam ser chamadas num charme de um café, desejavam ser visitas elegantes nas visitas ao Chiado. Os chás da Benard teriam de ter “toilettes” adequadas. Era a crónica social dos anos 20 a determinar.

Sem fechar a porta aos homens, claro, recebia os cronistas mundanos, espelhando uma sociedade que até nos balcões mostrava elegância. Os balcões sempre tiveram elegância e Benard pode ter sido precursora.

Na década de 1940 a Benard passa para a posse de Manuel José de Carvalho, e destaca-se pelos banquetes que organiza, servindo, por exemplo, o jantar aquando da visita da Rainha Isabel II a Portugal .

Quarenta anos depois, sensivelmente, esse prestígio conquistado perde-se.  Balcão sem charme e cinco ou seis mesas em estado deplorável. Mas uma mulher, precisamente, eterna dama com certeza, Maria Augusta Montes, compra o trespasse e transforma a Benard no espaço actual com croissants com chocolate acompanhados pelo revivalismo do chá. Tudo junto, do aroma à  História, do conforto ao sabor, voltamos à crónica dos anos 1920 e qualquer um de nós... o cronista.

 

 

Teas, pastries and Women against the current

Patisserie... pardon me. Let's start again. “The Patisserie Benard was founded in 1868 by Sr. Élie Benard, with an establishment at Rua do Loreto near to Calhariz. In 1902, the business passed over to the hands of Casimiro Benard and his brothers Pedro and Elias and in that same year it was transferred to their current premises, occupying the location and the ovens of another patisserie that had existed on the site - the Gratidão - which specialised in crystallised fruits.”

Against the current, this was primarily a place for women until the Second World War. The ladies, as perhaps they were always called in such a charming café, wished to be seen as elegant in their visits to Chiado. The teas at Benard called for appropriate "toilettes". This was determined by the society of the 1920s.

Without closing the door to men, of course, it received worldly chroniclers, mirroring society which showed its elegance even at the counters. Indeed, the counters were always elegant and Benard may have been a precursor. In the 1940s, the Benard handed it over to Manuel José de Carvalho and it became of note for the banquets it organised, serving, for example, dinner during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Portugal.

Forty years later, approximately, all the prestige it gained was lost. A charmless counter and five or six tables in a deplorable state.
But one woman, definitely an eternal lady, Maria Augusta Montes, bought it and transformed Benard into its current incarnation with chocolate croissants along with the revival of its tea tradition. All in all, with its aroma of History, the comfort of the flavour, we have returned to the chronicle of the 1920s and any one of us can be... that chronicler.