MELISSA: Pierre and I met when we were both working at Sydney’s Epping RSL Club in 1995. I was front-of-house;he was a kitchen hand but later worked front-of-house as well. We started as friends,as we were both seeing other people,and hit it off. We began having meals together after work,then after about four months each of our relationships fizzled out and our friendship evolved into romance.
I felt really comfortable with Pierre and we liked the same things,especially food. On our days off we’d go out to fine-dining restaurants,like[the now closed] Level 41:how many 21-year-olds would do that and appreciate it? I loved that he was very caring. When I finished late at the RSL,he’d meet me and walk me home.
In 2002,Pierre went back to Lebanon to live with his dad because of an illness in the family. It wasn’t easy for us being apart but I knew it was something he had to do. We had been together for about seven years by then,so we talked on the phone every day and,in a way,that brought us closer. I went over to Lebanon to visit a few times and loved it.
After Pierre had been there for about eight months,he asked me to come over and live in Beirut;I did,for about nine months. Life there is very social,with a revolving door of visitors in and out of your home. I found that a bit confronting,but Pierre just said,“This is how it is. You need to adapt.” So I did.
While I was there,he got down on one knee and proposed at his beautiful old family home overlooking the ocean. I wasn’t expecting it.
We moved back to Australia in 2004 and got married in Fiji two years later,which was perfect:very simple and low-key,with just our families. By then we were both working in recruitment but there was a slump in business with the global financial crisis in 2008,so we resigned. We decided to try something new. We saw a gap in the food market for ready-made desserts like apple crumble,panna cotta,tiramisu,and started a business called Homemade Fine Foods.
One Christmas we were about to close down for a few weeks and we had 200 litres of cream left over,so Pierre decided to make butter. The first batch was pretty average,but he kept experimenting and became obsessed with the idea of starting a butter business. I loved the idea;there was no one else we knew in Australia doing handcrafted butter. So he was making butter at night while we were making the desserts during the day,and then the butter business took over.
When we started Pepe Saya in 2010,we put everything we had into it. It was challenging because we had to spend so much time away from our young sons,Oli and Sebastian. In those early days,when we were struggling,Pierre told me to hit the phones,starting with the three-hatted restaurants,to drum up business. I said,“I’m not a salesperson!” He said,“You have to do this. This is make or break.” So I did.