Eugenia Oswaldt left a corporate career to open up Tashca, a modern eatery in Nolita, New York City. She tells Tony Gonçalves the story of how a visa issue led her to change a lucrative career for the hustle of opening up a restaurant. 

Eugenia had never imagined herself as an entrepreneur until a visa problem and a flight of the imagination set her on the path to Nolita. The Portuguese-French executive, with years in corporate life across Paris, London and New York, left a tech career to open what was meant to be a Portuguese sandwich shop, a plan that never materialized. The space became something else: a platform for private dining, guest chefs, podcast recordings and a sold-out public night every Thursday, which “only Portuguese soul and New York hustle” could have produced.

Eugenia Oswaldt left a corporate career to open up Tashca, a modern eatery in Nolita, New York City. She tells Tony Gon&ccedil;alves the story of how a visa issue led her to change a lucrative career for the hustle of opening up a restaurant.&nbsp;
Eugenia had never imagined herself as an entrepreneur until a visa problem and a flight of the imagination set her on the path to Nolita. The Portuguese-French executive, with years in corporate life across Paris, London and New York, left a tech career to open what was meant to be a Portuguese sandwich shop, a plan that never materialized. The space became something else: a platform for private dining, guest chefs, podcast recordings and a sold-out public night every Thursday, which &ldquo;only Portuguese soul and New York hustle&rdquo; could have produced.

Each week, join Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive—as he explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage. From visionary entrepreneurs to cultural pioneers, The Heart and Hustle of Portugal uncovers the unique ways the Portuguese identity thrives worldwide. As Expresso’s first English-language product, this series bridges cultures and connects the global audience to Portugal’s spirit of innovation, passion, and resilience.

Each week, join Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive—as he explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage. From visionary entrepreneurs to cultural pioneers, The Heart and Hustle of Portugal uncovers the unique ways the Portuguese identity thrives worldwide. As Expresso’s first English-language product, this series bridges cultures and connects the global audience to Portugal’s spirit of innovation, passion, and resilience.

Tony Gonçalves—a U.S.-based Portuguese immigrant and successful media executive— explores the stories of those driving Portugal’s influence on the global stage

The Heart & Hustle of Portugal

The Heart and Hustle of Portugal

Eugenia Oswaldt left a corporate career to open up Tashca, a modern Portuguese eatery in Nolita, New York City. She tells Tony Gonçalves the story of how a visa issue led her to change a lucrative career for the hustle of opening up a restaurant. 

“You’ve built the most New York thing we’ve seen in years” | Eugenia Oswaldt, Tascha NYC

Nuno Marques, the Portuguese pianist who played Carnegie Hall twice and built a festival from scratch, sits down with Tony Gonçalves to explain why he has spent a career carrying Portugal in his hands. Listen to The Heart & Hustle of Portugal.

Nuno Marques, the Portuguese pianist who played Carnegie Hall twice and built a festival from scratch, sits down with Tony Gon&ccedil;alves to explain why he has spent a career carrying Portugal in his hands. Listen to The Heart &amp; Hustle of Portugal.

Nuno Marques, the Portuguese pianist who played Carnegie Hall twice and built a festival from scratch, sits down with Tony Gonçalves to explain why he has spent a career carrying Portugal in his hands. Listen to The Heart & Hustle of Portugal 

Nuno Marques: When fado meets piano and a festival becomes a movement

Filipe Santos, a Portuguese-American entrepreneur born in Newark, hrecounts a path that began in the tight-knit Portuguese community of his childhood and passed through more than a decade of heroin addiction. Listen to “The Heart & Hustle of Portugal”.

Filipe Santos, a Portuguese-American entrepreneur born in Newark, hrecounts a path that began in the tight-knit Portuguese community of his childhood and passed through more than a decade of heroin addiction. Listen to &ldquo;The Heart &amp; Hustle of Portugal&rdquo;.

Filipe Santos, a Portuguese-American entrepreneur born in Newark,  hrecounts a path that began in the tight-knit Portuguese community of his childhood and passed through more than a decade of heroin addiction. Listen to “The Heart & Hustle of Portugal”

Laughing in the face of addiction: Filipe Santos’ wild ride from humble beginnings to boss life

Trained as a translator and interpreter, Rita Barros came to photography almost by accident. It began with a Tom Waits concert, where she took photographs that turned out overexposed but salvageable, and which she ended up selling to a journalist when the singer had banned the press. From there came years of concert photography, developing film in her own kitchen and delivering prints by noon the next day, before she tired of a competitive, largely male environment. Of all the musicians she photographed, she singles out Iggy Pop as the most generous subject. Her work turned to the Chelsea itself, with the book “Chelsea Hotel. 15 Years”, dedicated to her neighbors, followed by self-portraits and self-published handmade books.

Rita Barros also recalls the 11 years she and other long-term tenants fought the hotel's new owners to stay, a battle she won, even if she admits the Chelsea Hotel of today has lost much of its earlier character. She now teaches photography at NYU, where she notes growing student interest in analog film, and keeps close ties to Portugal, with regular stays, exhibitions and books. “I don't have to decide whether I'm one or the other, I'm both”, she says, naming warmth as the defining trait of the Portuguese and recommending, for Lisbon, a beer at a garden kiosk, with nothing to avoid.

Trained as a translator and interpreter, Rita Barros came to photography almost by accident. It began with a Tom Waits concert, where she took photographs that turned out overexposed but salvageable, and which she ended up selling to a journalist when the singer had banned the press. From there came years of concert photography, developing film in her own kitchen and delivering prints by noon the next day, before she tired of a competitive, largely male environment. Of all the musicians she photographed, she singles out Iggy Pop as the most generous subject. Her work turned to the Chelsea itself, with the book &ldquo;Chelsea Hotel. 15 Years&rdquo;, dedicated to her neighbors, followed by self-portraits and self-published handmade books.
Rita Barros also recalls the 11 years she and other long-term tenants fought the hotel's new owners to stay, a battle she won, even if she admits the Chelsea Hotel of today has lost much of its earlier character. She now teaches photography at NYU, where she notes growing student interest in analog film, and keeps close ties to Portugal, with regular stays, exhibitions and books. &ldquo;I don't have to decide whether I'm one or the other, I'm both&rdquo;, she says, naming warmth as the defining trait of the Portuguese and recommending, for Lisbon, a beer at a garden kiosk, with nothing to avoid.

Rita Barros has lived in the same room at the Chelsea Hotel, in Manhattan, for 42 years. Born in Lisbon, she arrived in New York in 1980 to study English and ended up staying. A temporary room, taken in 1984 while she looked for an apartment, became room 1008, a place she describes as a “cocoon” and a “warm, protective space” that has accompanied her through every stage of her life and work. Listen to “The Heart & Hustle of Portugal”

“You’ve built the most New York thing we’ve seen in years” | Eugenia Oswaldt, Tascha NYC

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