We’ve lost count of how many stories start with "Once upon a time, during the pandemic...". In this one, the protagonists are Rita Castelo Branco and Pedro Loureiro, each with their own plan when the world turned upside down – and who decided to team up. She wanted to cook and sell crêpes and croquettes; he was looking for a factory to produce fresh pasta. Since 2020, they’ve been making artisanal frozen meals, now available to the public at their shop in Aldeia de Juso, Cascais.
"During lockdown, people started asking us for ready meals and, surprisingly, our side hustles ended up becoming the main business", Rita tells Time Out Cascais. They called the brand É o que é – Portuguese for “It is what it is” – because, as Pedro proudly explains, "the product speaks for itself. No colourings, no preservatives, no gimmicks". There are crêpes, croquettes and fresh pasta, yes – but that’s just the beginning. "At this point we’ve got nearly 400 different items – well over 300 dishes", he adds.
Soups and veloutés, meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, individual, XL and XXL pies, baked pastas, fresh pastas, comfort food, mini desserts and cakes by the slice – these are just some of the categories on the extensive menu, which includes standout specialities like velvety carrot soup, chilli con carne, prawn açorda, enoki mushrooms with coriander, spinach, mushroom, walnut and caramelised onion pies, codfish lasagne, linguini nero, hake and cockle crêpes, broad beans with pork belly, mini almond tarts and raspberry blattertorte.
"It’s traditional food, without being obvious", says Rita. "We have to adapt to modern palates and realities – we can’t stay stuck on recipes from 20 years ago". Pedro also highlights their ongoing focus on sustainability. "We take it seriously: seasonal produce, everything made with care and consistency".
The factory, with the capacity to produce up to 500 kilos of food a day, was initially designed with the HORECA sector in mind (hotels, restaurants and cafés). But the news quickly travelled from person to person, and É o que é dishes started landing on dining tables all over the country. The shop itself was meant to be a showroom for resellers – and yet it’s now where regular customers can discover, in person, the full range created by Rita, who came from a background in catering and restaurants, but also from the arts – hence the stylish branding. "I have that eye", she explains. "We wanted grandma’s flavour, but not grandma’s image".
Inside the shop, customers will find around 200 frozen options – from starters to desserts. "I can even help build a menu if someone comes in saying they’re hosting dinner at home", Rita promises. For these kinds of customers – and for those still ordering online – É o que é has launched a new Loyalty Club, À la Carte, offering discounts, early access to new dishes and free home delivery.
Looking ahead, don’t expect this Cascais duo to start dreaming of opening more shops. "That’s exactly what we don’t want", says Pedro. "We’re much more focused on supporting our resellers across the country". Well... it is what it is.
Estrada da Malveira 900 (Cascais). Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–2pm. www.eoquee.pt