Christopher ThΓ©, the brilliant mind behind Black Star Pastry and its world-famous strawberry and watermelon cake, is once again making waves in the industry with the opening of his new venture HEARTHE, which took place in Stanmore, NSW, on February 7.
Christopher ThΓ© is a name that is synonymous with high-class pastry the world over, but bakingβand hospitality in generalβwasnβt initially on the cards for him.
βI was at university when I was youngβstraight out of school, when I hadnβt quite decided what my career was going to be, so I did a general Bachelor of Arts degree. I did psychology; I thought that was going to be my path,β he tells me.
βBut then I discovered cafes and restaurants. I just kind of fell in love with the life, the service, the heat of dockets coming up, preparing food, watching people eat.β
As soon as Chris finished his degree, the day of his final exam, he stepped into the world of hospitality. Realising that he wouldnβt get far without any training, Chris decided to take on an apprenticeship, after which he quickly fell into the world of fine dining.
βIn that world, I ended up in desserts because of my temperament. Iβm quite patient and carefulβI was, anyway, before I became an entrepreneur. I fell in love with the sweeter side of things, so thatβs where I ended up,β he says.
After working at various well-known and reputable restaurants and patisseries, Chris decided to go down a different route after the birth of his first son.
βI had my first son, and it wasnβt compatible with kids anymore,β he says.
βI ended up with this thought of having my own pastry shopβ¦ and that became Black Star. I grew that from just myself in the kitchen to a huge business.β
As the business grew, there was an increasing distance between Chris and the various people who worked for him. So, in 2019, he decided to take a step back and find out if food was still what motivated him.
βI tried a little bit of writing, I tried consulting small businesses, and I tried manufacturingβ¦ They were all great, but they didnβt really give me the joy of watching people come into the shop and giving them an amazing experienceβthatβs really what I love to do.β
The journey that Chris took in the time after Black Star led him to the idea for his new venture, HEARTHE.
βI went on this path of opening another bakery, another patisserie, but really it was two years before I found the right spotβ¦ And here I am. There was a beautiful sweet spot in my Black Star days, when I only had one shop, and I had a small team and I knew all the locals. That was amazing,β Chris says.
βIβm hoping that I can keep this place in the sweet spotβnot grow too big, not have to grow too big. Keep it to a small team and know as many people who come through the door as possible and really put that effort into their experience.β
But keeping things small is not Chrisβs only focus for the new bakery. He is also hoping to keep in touch with native ingredients.
βI was fortunate enough to dine at Noma in Sydney, when they were in Sydney. That was quite eye-opening. He brought all sorts of rare, rare, rare ingredients to put together in a meal,” Chris said.
βThat made me realise that the food that I knew so well, that I called Australian food, was very English and French-based. Whereas the food that we get from this land can be quite challenging in the way that it can be astringent or acidic, bitter sometimes, sometimes a bit tough. Thatβs where you start to get all these flavours that youβve never had before. Thatβs where the spark came from.
βIβve been on this path of discovery, just trying all these new ingredients that are around. Itβs been eye-opening as a chef. Before this, I would say that it would be very rare that you would taste something that was really novel to you. But itβs just been one after the other, once you start to get into native ingredients and whatever food this land can produce.β
Chrisβs vision for the new patisserie is reflected in its name: HEARTHE.
βHEARTHE has so many other little words in the name that talk about what weβre about,β Chris says.
βIf you pull the name apart, itβs got heart. I really wanted to put something very personal into the business, into the food. Hopefully it looks like art, but thatβs for others to decide. Itβs got my name in there, ThΓ©. Also, one of my passions has been sustainability in small business, looking after the earth. Youβll see, in this one word, it contains all these other words.
βWhen you hear it in its final form and you can pick out all these words, it just kind of makes sense.β
Another important cornerstone of HEARTHE for Chris is that the cakes that are produced are able to withstand the harsh Australian climate.
Chris says, βI gave myself the challenge to build what Iβm calling cakes designed to this climate, to this land. On a 30Β°C dayβour signature cake range, theyβre designed to sit on a bench for three days and be fine.
βIf you think about it, weβve been cooking like this all of our existence as human beings. Itβs only really been in the last 100 years everyoneβs had refrigeration, and thereβs been cakes all this time.
βOur challenge was to bring that style of food with traditional preservation techniques and then modernise it and then make it taste good. Thatβs been a real challenge, thatβs why itβs taken so long to develop these cakes to make sure that not only they taste good, but that they stand up and can be delivered. Cakes for this climate, really.
βPeople have been doing this for millennia. Weβve lost the skills in making food that doesnβt require refrigeration, cause weβre just so reliant on refrigeration and cold logistics and supermarkets these days.β
When heβs baking for himself, the thing that Chris loves to make more than anything is surprising. Apple tarte tatin.
βItβs actually very challenging to do, to get it right. It takes a lot of feel, experience. But really, the best food I find are the simplest foods. Just two things, apples and pastryβwith a little bit of cream on the side of course. Perfection in food is when youβve taken everything away and youβre just left with the essence of something. You take these two ingredientsβapple and pastryβand the result is so much more than the parts. Itβs like itβs gone through this magic transformation.
βThatβs my favourite dessert of all time. You never get tired of these classics.β
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