The story of Colmeia begins with a partnership, Sousa Pinho&Queirós, whose members decided to bet on a business installed in a new property that would house a pension and a confectionery, after the demolition of two buildings in Praça Luís Ribeiro 155, in São João da Madeira, where they were the Rex coffee, a butcher’s shop, a small shop and a residence of the Pinho family. To better understand the preferences of São Joçao da Madeira, the name of the establishment was the contest, offering a prize of 500 escudos to the winner. It should be noted that, at that time, 500 escudos corresponded to approximately one salary. The winners (Emília Veiga Martins and Alberto Martins de Pinho) christened the establishment of Colmeia, a name that would quickly become synonymous with pastry excellence, in São João da Madeira. It was 1965 when the Colmeia opened doors. He got to know some managements until 1991.

Here we make a paragraph to look at the person who currently leads the Colmeia to good port, Manuel Valente Figueira. When visiting his brother-in-law, in Venezuela, during the vacations, he gained attachment to the country and, leaving behind an administrative position in the Pro Leite de Oliveira de Azeméis, settled there during three years. On his return to Portugal he planned his next step, which consisted in acquiring the central bakery in São João da Madeira, where he worked for about six years. Subsequently, he set up the Visconde coffee, however, this was a short-term investment. Tell yourself what you want about restoration, you need to have love and dedication to a space that turns out to be a second home. Now it turns out that the Viscount did not fit well with Manuel. The space was something small and closed and Manuel eventually took his dream to the other side, now yes, to the Colmeia, along with its partners, Noé Felix and Fernando Jorge. When they ‘got’ in the business it already worked well, nevertheless, they improved it substantially. As Manuel tells us, initially the bakery worked with four or five tables on the terrace. Years later, in the heights of greater affluence during the summer, they end-up to serve one hundred and twenty tables. To better understand the reason for this evolution, it is convenient to analyze the philosophy of the house: this confectionery began, like so many others, with traditional recipes and its own manufacture. However, when the young confectioners replaced those that, for years’ worth, they arrived at the deserved rest, the manufacture continued to be carried out in loco and the original recipes, respected. “Whoever asks for a cake in the Colmeia eats a cake from the Colmeia”.

The most requested are unequivocally the Hungarian, bean cakes, cream, peanut pastry, palmiers, croissants, glories and Christmas sweets. Customers, on the other hand, appreciate not only the delights of the house, but also the fact that they can treat the staff by name. The reason they do it is very simple: staff tends to stay in the establishment, most of which is already in the house, which allows a close relationship with customers. To finish off the commercial success of this very old pastry shop, we also mention the operation at lunchtime. Manuel started with a limited supply of dishes, but as soon as the opportunity was provided, he expanded the menu to work in full with daily and menu. And so is the Colmeia, an establishment that happily plans its continuity as it makes its cakes, with care, attention and mastery, looking at the heart of São João da Madeira through its windows.