MANY go through life avoiding making major life changing decisions.
Brenden and Roxy Schutz, the owners of popular cafe and restaurant Main St Provedore in Tamborine Mountain, are not amongst that group.
Living in Shoalhaven on the NSW South Coast Brenden decided at 32 years of age that it was time to put a pause on his then working life and commit fully to his love of food.
He turned his back on his well paying full-time job to take on a poorly paid role as a first year apprentice chef at a leading local restaurant called Silos.
“I always wanted to be a chef and I had a burning passion to become one,” he said.
“Fortunately I got to work and learn under a great chef in Nick Gardner, who despite only being 27 at the time, had loads of great experience having worked in leading Sydney restaurants before we met at Silos in Berry.”
“There was a lot of sacrifice in taking on the apprenticeship, but I learnt quickly and loved it. I was so fortunate to have a great mentor.”
After completing his apprenticeship at the award winning Silos and other restaurants with Nick, Brenden decided it was time for a change and answered a job opportunity to come to Tamborine Mountain and work at Songbirds Restaurant.
It wasn’t just a decision for the couple to pack up their own bags for the move, Roxy also had a bag of baby clothes as she was six months pregnant at the time and expecting twins, Louis and Willow.
“It was certainly quite a move, especially when your wife is heavily pregnant and you are leaving behind your family and all their support,” Brenden said.
The move to Tamborine Mountain went well for the first nine months as Brenden established himself at the established Songbirds, but then Covid hit and life changed for the Schutz family.
Songbirds became a casualty of Covid like so many other businesses over the pandemic period and Brenden found himself looking for a new job.
It led him to open a small cafe and restaurant in what could only be described as a hole in the wall shop on Main Street – it was only 2.7 metres wide by12 metres long.
Now almost four years later the popularity of Brenden’s food has seen Main St Provedore Cafe and Restaurant double in size, although he has retained the restaurant’s intimacy and on Friday and Saturday nights when its open you have to book in advance with just 20 seats available.
The cafe specialises in pastry, coffee, breakfasts and sandwiches and its always a favourite place to go for locals on a Tuesday to Saturday.
Big decisions sometimes reap big rewards and that’s how it has been for the Schutz family and their bold move to come to Tamborine Mountain and make it their forever home.
