FOOD FANATIC
HOW SWEET IT IS! WORDS MICHELLE MEEHAN - Features Writer
If you’ve got a sweet tooth and you’re visiting the Hunter Valley vineyards, there’s no better place to go than a restaurant focussed wholly and solely on dishing up delicious desserts. Established in 2011 by former Sydneysiders Fernando and Renata Antao, Sabor Dessert Bar offers more than 50 mouthwatering creations including Fernando’s home-grown speciality – his Portuguese grandmother’s famous chocolate mousse. This month Your Hunter Valley Blackboard Magazine has gone behind the glass-fronted display cabinets to discover a little more about a couple of the sweetest restaurateurs in the Hunter. YHV: Tell us a little about both of your backgrounds – where did your interest in desserts begin? Fernando: Both my parents originated from Portugal and Renata was born in Brazil, and when it comes to food, Europeans and South Americans alike love their food. Everything from celebrations and family gatherings seem to revolve around food, and dessert was always an equally important part of the meal. It’s how a meal finishes that leaves you satisfied, and often is the lingering afterthought of a meal. When did you first learn how to make your grandmother’s famous chocolate mousse and what do you think is so special about it? I started watching my mum in the kitchen at a very early age, probably six or seven-years-old, and she would normally let me do some of the mixing of ingredients. I would say I was approximately 14 when mum allowed me to make the mousse from scratch by myself; it wasn't quite the same as hers, but I have a feeling that I've improved over the last 30 years. My grandmother lived in Portugal, and every couple of years we would go over to visit, but she never got a chance to teach me herself, probably because I was too busy playing with my cousins who I hadn't seen for the last two years.
Fernando and Renata Antao
I think it's special because it's not made with any cream like a conventional chocolate mousse, and the fact that my grandmother used port wine in her mousse - way back then it was used as a preservative as there were no fridges. My mother continued to use port, and today I do too – not only is it following my grandmother’s recipe, it gives it a flavour and texture you don't normally find in the run-of-mill mousse. When did you first become involved in the hospitality industry and why? I was always involved in hospitality from a young age, working in KFC and graduating to cafes in and around Sydney while I was studying. I worked in the kitchen making pastries and cakes in a small cafe in a Westfields in Pagewood in my early 20s. I always had a passion for design and building though, so I was in the architectural and building game for over ten years but sadly grew tired of all the red tape that came with it, so we bought a pizzeria in Pyrmont, which ran quite successfully. That's where I started making my grandmother's chocolate mousse to sell in the pizzeria. It was so popular that people would come into the pizzeria just to buy tubs and tubs of our chocolate mousse or come in and have a coffee with our mousse. It was then we started to wholesale the chocolate mousse to well over 100 stores in NSW and Queensland. When did you first visit the Hunter Valley and why did you and Renata want to move here? We started visiting the Hunter Valley probably when we were 20 years old, always with a group of friends and generally for the June long weekend when it was nice and cold and we'd buy some wine, some local cheese, olives and of course chocolates and then retreat to our accommodation. After a few visits, Renata and I started coming up to the Hunter three or four times a year as a couple. We loved it up here because it was so serene and relaxing, and the backdrop of the mountains and vineyards was so beautiful. ►
31 | JANUARY 2019 yhv