Kevin Matos doesn’t just talk a big game when it comes to boosting Portuguese culture, he wears it on his sleeve. Well, his body more exactly. He has a tattoo of a pastel de nata, the popular egg custard tart that originated in Lisbon, proudly etched onto his left arm.

Matos, a Pawtucket native, has been around Portuguese food and culture his whole life. His father founded the Portuguese social club on their home island, and his parents started Matos Bakery in Pawtucket in 1999. Following his own food journey, he attended Johnson and Wales University and earned a background in French cooking.

But as he sat at a table within the newly-opened Cafe Alma — washed in natural light pouring in from the large plate glass windows facing north looking onto Warren Avenue — the jovial Matos made it clear his ideal place to set up his own business wasn’t in Paris; it was right here in East Providence.

“It’s really about embracing the Portuguese culture here, especially in East Providence,” Matos said. “Warren Ave., in my opinion, should be called Little Portugal. It’s just full of so many Portuguese establishments.”

Adding to the multitude of highly-rated Portuguese eateries along Warren Avenue, Matos said his goal when opening Cafe Alma was to showcase food and drink options outside of the staples that people know and love.

“There's so many other options and so many other different things that do come out of Portugal. We have around 20 wines that we'll have on hand, all from Portugal,” he said. “It's a culture that's on the rise in the culinary world.”

Matos said he was excited to show off food items that combine various other cultures with Portuguese food, which he said might earn him a perturbed look from someone in Portugal if he called it authentic Portuguese food. He laughs, recalling a funny story of calling a caçoila the “best Portuguese sandwich”, and getting more than a few angry comments online because of it.

“We call it ‘New England Portuguese food’, because there’s a lot of stuff done here in New England that we don’t do in Portugal,” he said.

The cafe had a soft opening on Feb. 14, which generated widespread enthusiasm. Matos said they plan to use as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible, including baked goods from Cafe Matos, and Providence-based New Harvest Coffee. Matos said that now they are regularly pushing upwards of 200 coffees and lattes on a regular Saturday and Sunday.

Once Matos secures his liquor license, the sizable bar will be another opportunity to showcase the best Portugal has to offer; from a specialty gin infused with green tea from the Azores, to a Portuguese twist on an old fashioned that utilizes brandy and Portugal’s famed sour cherry liqueur, ginja, and is then smoked to replicate the hit of a traditional bourbon old fashioned.

Matos said that he was grateful to the City of East Providence for the opportunity, which was made possible in part due to a sizable storefront improvement grant funded by the city’s American Rescue Plan Act dollars that allowed him to renovate the windows and doors. The whole building has gone through an overhaul, with only the unique blue, crown-molded ceilings and ceiling trim remaining to show the building’s 1920s history.

Matos said he was proud to carry on the Portuguese tradition that he is so proud of.

“I’m not saying I'm going to be the the carrier of everything or anything, but it's good to have younger people push on with the culture,” he said. “You know, some of the traditions and other things, and also improve on some other things and new ideas.”

He envisions a future where Warren Avenue could become like other hotbeds of food tourism in the state, only with a Portuguese core to be celebrated.

“We can create something like a Main Street in East Greenwich, where people are walking around and you can barhop at night and if one restaurant is full, you go to the next one. There's options available,” he said. “Federal Hill has always been Little Italy here in Rhode Island, and you're able to do that. The restaurants are all great quality, they all do great stuff. So, if you could bring that to this street in East Providence, that would be huge.”

The cafe is currently open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will have its full opening on March 21, where alcohol and small plates will start to be available. A ribbon cutting is planned on March 14.