Tomaso got a job at the Port Kembla Steel Works as a labourer when he came to Australia and was living in Second Avenue, Port Kembla. By the time his family arrived he had purchased a house at St Andrews Place, Tarrawanna.
Fernando and his siblings attended Tarrawanna Public school. He would finish his primary school education there. In 1965 a young Domenica Barbaro arrived in Australia with her mother and her two sisters. They were also to meet up with their father Francesco who came to Australia the year before (in 1964) on the very same ship that Fernando`s father, Tomaso, arrived on called the Australia. The Barbaro family lived at East Corrimal, five minutes away from the Risorto family.
Fernando attended Keira Boys High School in Wollongong for his secondary education. Furthering that he completed a course at TAFE as a Sewing Machine Mechanic. Fernando`s first job was at the King Gee Clothing factory in Bellambi, that predominately made work wear for men. He then moved to Crystals clothing factory in Ellen Street, Wollongong that made shirts and pyjamas.
In 1975 Fernando moved on as a sewing machine mechanic and worked at Bonds and Kirbys, as a furniture salesman. He would soon get a second job working part time in a Pizzeria. By this stage he also met Domenica and they were dating.
At 24 years of age Fernando along with Domenica, who were now married, took the plunge and opened a Pizzeria in Thirroul in the northern suburbs of the Illawarra. It was a small vacant shop they named Mamma Mia Pizza. It sat approximately 25 people inside and also did takeaway, opening six days per week, for dinner only. Monday was their day off.
They ran Mamma Mia Pizza for six years before tackling a new venture. There was an old bakery for sale at Tarrawanna, (located in Meadow street) a street away from Fernando`s family home at St Andrews Place. The bakery was operational but very run down and needed some work. They purchased the business as well as the premises.
It took a lot in the beginning to get it fully functional. Fernando was the main baker and liked to experiment and did so with different types of breads including Italian well known types such as sourdough and focaccia. When it came to focaccia they were the only local bakers making it at the time. Fernando presented himself to many eateries to inform them and to perhaps try his breads that he felt would be good for their businesses.
Once the bakery was a full capacity it was running 22 hours each day, 7 days per week and was becoming incredibly busy to say the least. Along with Domenica, more staff were added to the roster. Aside from their cakes and pies, their breads were becoming very popular indeed, especially with the Italian community.
Fernando developed his expertise in bread making and by now he was supplying the Fraternity Club, along with various restaurants and cafes. After approximately six years. Fernando and Domenica sold the bakery business at Tarrawanna and opened BJ`s Bakery in Crown Central, Wollongong. It was located upstairs in the newly renovated complex on Crown Street that also had an entrance from Market Street, Wollongong.
Once BJ`s was running they opened a cafe called BJ`s On The Beach, on Cliff Road, North Wollongong. The cafe was a partnership with Domenica`s sister Sara. It was slow moving at first, but soon it picked up, as it`s location was a stone`s throw from the ocean. The Cafe was open every day 6am - 6pm. BJ`s Bakehouse provided the cafe with their cakes & breads. Sara ran the cafe daily.
Back at the bakehouse, things started off really slowly. When it came to the sourdough and the focaccia, which sold quite well at Tarrawanna, they were not popular with the public at all in Wollongong. In fact Fernando practically gave them away. This caused a bit of friction between him and Domenica. Most of their customers just wanted regular sandwich bread. It took some time and convincing but eventually they began to sell the artisan style loaves also adding rye, soy & linseed to the product list.
Approximately twelve months later Domenica opened her own business (downstairs in Crown Central) called `Our House`. Our House sold homewares and was doing well. Domenica and Fernando also had young children by now, two girls under the age of ten. Fernando, who was 39 years old was working incredibly hard and suffered a heart attack. Domenica now had a lot on her plate with Fernando being unwell and trying to keep both businesses going. Fernando was scheduled to have triple bypass surgery and whilst waiting for that to occur (about a month before) Domenica was in a car accident and had to wear a neck brace, with everything going on around her. With the cafe, her homewares store and having to get other bakers in to help at the bakehouse she was under enormous pressure. Domenica went back to work but not in a physical capacity. She was able to delegate and keep things going.
It took Fernando 18 months before he could return to work. By then Domenica had sold her homewares store. After approximately four years in Crown Central, BJ`s Bakehouse moved out onto Crown Street.
Approximately two years later they left BJ`s on the beach. They then opened BJ`s Cafe on the mall, again run by Sara. The cafe sold sandwiches, panini, Italian food and coffee on the daily. BJ`s Cafe on the mall ran for two years before on selling it along with BJ`s bakehouse.
During the 1990`s Domenica and Fernando were offered a franchise of `Michel`s Patisserie` which was situated in Crown Central opposite where the original BJ`s Bakehouse traded from. Unfortunately, Fernando was still having health issues which limited the amount of work he was able to do. Domenica was running the cafe on her own, a lot of the time. Michel`s Pattisserie sold coffee and sweets on the daily as well as pies and quiches. They sold specialty cakes and birthday cakes made to order. It was an extremely busy cafe opening seven days a week 8 am - 6pm. Two years into the Wollongong store, Domenica was offered the franchise at Corrimal Court. She offered the Corrimal franchise to her sisters Sara and Maria. Maria ran the cafe day to day. Sara`s daughter bought Sara`s share in the cafe as she was already working there. Domenica ran Michel`s Patisserie in Wollongong for six years.
Once Wollongong was sold. Maria and Sara left the Corrimal shop and Domenica was once again running a cafe on her own. The Corrimal franchise was extremely busy as well. In total Corrimal ran for approximately 5 years. It was then on sold. Michel`s then offered Domenica the Dapto franchise and again she was running a cafe. At the same time that Domenica was running the Dapto cafe, Fernando had opened a cafe on Keira Street, Wollongong called `Cafe Risorto.` It was a Cafe/Restaurant with Fernando and one other chef running it. They served Italian meals such as pastas, meat dishes and panini during the day. They opened over four days in the week, split shifts lunch and dinner. Health issues again limited Fernando in his work, and so after two years he sold the cafe and after five years Domenica sold Dapto.
Domenica, (who was the main bread winner now) had a change of employment and began working from home. She had set up a family day care and eventually was doing it five days per week 7.30 - 5.30. Fernando had now retried. Whilst working at family day care Fernando suddenly became unwell. He was put him into an induced coma and was flown from Wollongong to St George Hospital in Sydney. Days later sadly Fernando passed away. He was only 57.
After moving on from the Newsagency she stopped work for two years due to Covid. Domenica then began working as a teachers aide and also at preschools, jobs that she continues to do occasionally.
Domenica and Fernando, whilst they had been working for many years in business were very involved with social groups in the Italian community. Domenica was involved with the CCC group and Fernando was involved with the Madonna Del Rosario group. Fernando was on the committee of both groups. Later Domenica was also on the committee of Madonna Del Rosario. Both these groups worked tirelessly through their fundraising efforts and social events ect. Domenica is still part of the CCC group, who wound down somewhat during covid. The group now is slowly relaunching with some picnic days.
When it came to their breads and cakes ect, nothing would be thrown out. At the end of each day any left over items were always donated to charity organisations, homeless groups, St Vincent De Paul and those in need. When it came to their work with Michel`s Patisserie between them Domenica, Fernando, Sara and Maria worked for a combined total of approximately 16 years. Michel`s Patisserie at it`s peak had over 300 stores Australia wide.
All images from the collection belonging to Domenica Risorto
