Getting Away from it all Dr Sharon Masel and Stonebarn luxury B&B
Doctors Doing (Very)
Different Things
Whether running a boutique resort, starting a vineyard, producing olive oil or making chocolate, you have to find both the passion and the time outside medicine! The stories of these four doctors will fascinate.
Creating the perfect getaway Dr Sharon Masel and her husband Dion bought their Pemberton property with future kids in mind. “We both loved the big old trees of Pemberton and thought buying a big farm with river frontage could at least teach our future children there is more to life than DVDs and computer games,” Sharon said.
truffles and what I might see by day as a gastroenterologist. My brother, a dermatologist, tells me he spends all day trying to eradicate fungus while I try to grow it!”
Chocolate indulgence
But it was not long before Dion’s experience building a safari lodge in his native South Africa and Sharon’s entrepreneurial spirit took over, and the idea of creating the perfect country B&B was born. A conversation with friend and award-winning architect Aviva Shpilman sealed it. It would be in the style of an old European stone barn.
He always looks to push the envelope but he said flavouring chocolates is about subtlety. “Someone was doing a chilli relish so I developed a chilli chocolate for them using their relish inside. About 4000 chocolates sold within half an hour. You should enjoy the chocolate and then most of the flavours come through on the aftertaste – it’s got to be a chocolate first. At the most I’ll have one or two chocolates a day because I’m still getting waves of flavour two or three hours later. They’re just awesome things.”
“I was in Perth working as a gastroenterologist with two very young children while my husband worked five half-days a week on site for close to two and a half years... aarrgghh!” “Luckily, since we opened, we have had great managers on site who have returned my husband to me!”
But they are not about to rest on their laurels. Six years ago they planted their first truffles, and they are now expecting their second harvest in June. “My friends laugh at the similarities between the 40
“I find it totally relaxing. But chocolate melts at body temperature so once the weather’s above 30°, you’re in big trouble unless you’re in air-conditioning. You probably need specialised moulds but other than that, there’s not much. You can melt chocolate in a high-class melter or a microwave if you like!” “The biggest difficulty is getting access to good quality chocolate, not compound chocolate like Cadbury’s. There are all sorts, whether you’re using combinations or just chocolate from one particular plantation.”
They orchestrated an army of stonemasons and tradesmen to hand built it from scratch. Dion organised construction and Sharon designed the interior.
To their credit, Stonebarn has won many accolades since. The getaway was a finalist in the Australian Interior Design Awards after opening its doors in 2009. It has been twice shortlisted for the WA Tourism Awards, and they have been featured in magazines and newspapers around the world.
Tony was hooked and found making chocolate surprisingly simple.
His skills have been noticed.
Dr Tony Barr and his floral chocolate creation. Tony said it was “just general boredom” that started him on the chocolate road about five years ago. “I enrolled in a class thinking it was going to be only bored housewives, but when I turned up we had the number-three chocolatier in the world teaching us and I was thrown in at the deep end.”.
“I’ve taken out first prize at the Perth Royal Show for the last two years, and last year I actually sculpted my hand as part of a presentation. There’s always something else to try. The beauty about chocolate is it’s not just culinary, it’s chemistry and physics as well. You spend a lot of time learning the physical properties of sugars and gels, and which temperature to use.” “It’s spectacular and really good fun,” he said.
medicalforum