The Mission
Aguardente was born out of my longtime dream to share my culture, heritage, and travels with the Providence community. Together with Magda León and Natalia Neves, we've built a place to celebrate our collective upbringings in Portugal, Guatemala, and the Azores through incredible food, meticulously sourced spirits, and Magda’s moving art.
All three of us migrated to the United States as children, seeking a better life. Now as adults raising our own families in the U.S., we’ve recognized that something is missing. While all three of us have been able to give our children a piece of the American dream, there is a restless longing inside each of us, calling us home.
Over the years I’ve learned that it’s easy to forget and neglect our cultures of origin and get lost in the busyness of the American hustle. At Aguardente, we seek to reclaim the beauty of home and share it with you in a simple but heartfelt expression; through authentic food, traditional spirits, and passionate art.
Because a culture well remembered and creatively expressed can transform you.
Here, I invite you to lose yourself in the stories, the flavors, the experience as you share our gifts with others around the table.
I invite you to remember and to reclaim the beauty of home with us.
— Victor Pereira, Owner
The Team
Victor
The owner and the visionary behind Aguardente
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Victor’s earliest memories are of exploring the hills of Portugal with his childhood companion, a donkey who provided both transportation and adventure. One fateful morning the donkey decided he wanted to be free to travel further than the boundaries of the mountainside, making a run for it and pulling Victor along with him. The young Victor held on tightly to the donkey’s lead, digging in his heels as the donkey pulled him for a country mile. On that day the donkey’s thirst for adventure was imprinted on Victor, and he has carried it with him ever since.
Now, after decades of traveling and exploring other cultures and traditions, Victor has realized it’s time to once again grab the donkey by the reins and start a new journey. A journey that will encompass the memories of drinking port on a trip back to his homeland as a boy of fourteen, or discovering his love of Mezcal at IN SITU Mezcaleria in Oaxaca. A journey that celebrates storytelling by sharing flights of the spirits and flavors that have helped shape him.
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As lembranças mais antigas do Victor são as das suas explorações as colinas de Portugal com o seu companheiro de infância -um burro - que tanto lhe servia de transporte como lhe proporcionava aventuras.
Numa fatídica manhã o burro quis levar as suas explorações mais alem dos confins das encostas e fugiu desabridamente levando com ele o Victor. O jovem Victor agarrou-se com todas as suas forças a trela do burro, metendo-lhe os calcanhares, enquanto este o carregava por um bom bocado. Nesse dia a sede de aventuras do burro ficou gravada no Victor e ele a traz consigo desde então.
Ora, depois de décadas de viagens e descobrimentos de outras culturas e tradições, o Victor percebeu que uma vez mais chegara a altura de pegar no burro pelas rédeas e iniciar uma nova jornada. Uma jornada que iria incluir as recordações do beber o vinho do Porto durante uma viagem de regresso à sua terra natal enquanto miúdo de catorze anos; a descoberta da sua predileção, no local de origem, pelo Mezcal na Mezcalaria em Oaxaca. Uma jornada que celebra o contar de histórias ao compartilhar amostras das bebidas espirituosas e dos sabores que o marcaram.
Magda
Aguardente’s resident artist and curator of our Guatemalan & Mexican menu items
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Yesterday —
Without anyone asking her permission, she migrated from her country of eternal spring to Providence, RI. Her family sought to return to beautiful Guatemala, once they had reached “The American Dream.” The years passed without respecting or forgiving the wishes of the Leon family. Sadly, they never returned to their eternal spring; the price of the Dream was too high. At nighttime as a child, she would close her eyes, and imagine herself running through green pastures, full of flowers, which she had left from her homeland. During the day, from a distance, she would see her neighbor artists that lived in the mills that we now call Eagle Square. She would dream that she was one of them, but her reality was much different. Dreaming by day and night, her dreams felt unattainable.
Today —
Now, a woman with experience and the fighting spirit of an immigrant, she has given herself permission to re-encounter her childhood dreams. Taking ahold of them and making them her beautiful reality for today. Through her art, every time she draws a flower, she reconnects to the lifetime of springs that she has missed. And with every little bird she makes, she flies back to the beautiful city of Providence that saw her grow up. At last, she is able to connect the nostalgia of her past with the reality of her present by making beautiful creations that come from the most profound place of her heart and soul. Inviting the spectator to a beautiful adventure.
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El ayes —
Sin nadie pedide permiso un dia cuando era muy pequefia emigro del pais de la etema primavera a Providence. RI. Su familia buscaba regresar a su belle Guatemala al no mas alcanzar el suefio americano. Las afros volaron sin respetar ni perdonar los deseos de la familia Leon y no regre-saron a la primavera porque el precio del suefio fue muy taro. De nifia per las noshes cerraba sus ojos y se imaginaba comer sabre los pastas verdes Ilenos de floras que un dia habia dejade on su pais natal y de dia solia ver de lejos a los argslas que vivian en los mills Sue se encontraban en lo que Ilamemos hay Eagle Square. deseando sec unode ellos. PERO su realidad era otra, sonaba de ncche y sofiaba de dia. dos suefios que ella senlia inal.nzabl.
El Flay —
Mora lode una muter con kit, de vide, experiencia y lucha de emigrente se a dada pennies de reencontrarse can los suerios de su nines y retomarlos volviendolos una ricer realidad, donde par media de su arte ella se conecta a turves de cada flor cue dibuja a las mil primaveras del ayer y con coda paiarito Rue hate ella vuela a su presente coma emigrante de este bella chided que la via meter. Por fin, puede atar la nostalgia con la realidad y baser una bella creadan que viene de lo eras profundo de su alma y corazon invitando al eSpectador a un Undo viaje.
Natalia
Curator of our Portuguese menu items and some of our favorite cocktails
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Natalia was born on São Miguel, one of nine beautiful islands that make up the Azores region off the coast of Portugal. In the early years her family was quite poor–no electricity, no hot water. She arrived in the U.S. at seven years old to live with her grandmother and spent the rest of her childhood in Providence, walking to school each day across the street from where Aguardente now stands. Her life in Rhode Island was rich with memories of her homeland, a celebration of food and culture that has very much informed who she is today.
Natalia’s cooking style has been shaped by her life’s adventures, with inspiration drawn from a remembered scent, a sunny day, or the people that surround her. Her dishes are influenced by her proud Portuguese heritage but also her travels to other parts of the world. Food is her love language. She believes it has the power to connect friends and strangers in a way that language can’t, lifting wary spirits and feeding hungry souls. To Natalia, food is an art form that’s meant to be shared and celebrated.
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El ayes —
Sin nadie pedide permiso un dia cuando era muy pequefia emigro del pais de la etema primavera a Providence. RI. Su familia buscaba regresar a su belle Guatemala al no mas alcanzar el suefio americano. Las afros volaron sin respetar ni perdonar los deseos de la familia Leon y no regre-saron a la primavera porque el precio del suefio fue muy taro. De nifia per las noshes cerraba sus ojos y se imaginaba comer sabre los pastas verdes Ilenos de floras que un dia habia dejade on su pais natal y de dia solia ver de lejos a los argslas que vivian en los mills Sue se encontraban en lo que Ilamemos hay Eagle Square. deseando sec unode ellos. PERO su realidad era otra, sonaba de ncche y sofiaba de dia. dos suefios que ella senlia inal.nzabl..
El Flay —
Mora lode una muter con kit, de vide, experiencia y lucha de emigrente se a dada pennies de reencontrarse can los suerios de su nines y retomarlos volviendolos una ricer realidad, donde par media de su arte ella se conecta a turves de cada flor cue dibuja a las mil primaveras del ayer y con coda paiarito Rue hate ella vuela a su presente coma emigrante de este bella chided que la via meter. Por fin, puede atar la nostalgia con la realidad y baser una bella creadan que viene de lo eras profundo de su alma y corazon invitando al eSpectador a un Undo viaje.
The Space
Bar
Indoor Table
Indoor Nook
Patio Table
Patio Nook