About

a Portuguese family sits down for dinner

The bread is already on the table.

Nelson and Hugo Bettencourt were born on São Jorge, Açores and grew up in the Little Portugal neighborhood of San José, California. That’s how they grew up; eating bread with every meal.

Nelson has long-held a passion for building, which led him to his career in construction. In this latest venture, Nelson combines his expertise in building with his life-long appreciation for baked goods.

Hugo studied ceramics at San José State University and began baking bread for Whole Foods Market in 2017. In 2018, Hugo received a James Beard Foundation Scholarship to take classes at the South San Francisco Baking Institute to refine his craft.

In 2023, over Christmas dinner at Hugo’s apartment, Nelson, holding up a piece of Hugo’s sourdough slab, asked, “would you start selling this?”

Enter: Bettencourt Bread Parlour

With Nelson’s operations experience and Hugo’s baking expertise, the brothers are combining their talents and passions, and sharing it with their hometown.

Their bakery approaches California sourdough through a Portuguese lens while celebrating local ingredients.