We had the good fortune of connecting with Robert Nieto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robert, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think the most important factor for Fleur Sauvage Chocolate’s success is attention to detail in both our product and our atmosphere. We work hard to use local quality ingredients and to think out of the box to make every product that we offer an unusual experience of some kind. Whether this is an unusual flavor and beautiful, unexpected presentation and artistically stunning.

We put the same care and attention into our atmosphere at Fleur Sauvage. Every detail is unusual, beautiful and artistic. Our tea time experience is like nothing you will find anywhere else and is beautifully presented as well as unusual flavors.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been a professional Pastry Chef for over 20 years. In addition to pastries I began to become interested in the versatility of chocolate and all I could create. I love making desserts, bonbons, and even sculptures with chocolate. In 2016 I was selected by Dessert Professional Magazine as one of the Top 10 Pastry Chef’s in America. I was extremely honored to have been selected.

In 2018 I was invited to be on Pastry Team USA for the Mondial des Arts Sucre international competition in Paris. My teammate and I came in 5th out of 18 countries. I consider this one of my top professional accomplishments.

I think all of this comes down to being motivated and loving what you do. There have been many pastry competitions that I have not done as well as I would have liked… But I never gave up and learned from each experience.

Starting Fleur Sauvage Chocolates was a dream that I worked towards, planned for, trained for, saved for and fought for, for at least 15 years before it came to fruition. Becoming a business owner was not something I took lightly and I knew it would take years to grow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We enjoy hiking and Anadale State Park and Foothills Park and both great places to go.

We would definitely hit up a couple beer places such as the Russian River Brewery and Cooperage Brewing.

Our favorite lunch spots are KC’s Diner and then Grata Italian for dinner. Another day we could hit up Burtonz Bakery and then later in the day go to Sweet T’s Southern food. PizzaLeah is a great spot for pizza lunch.

There are a lot of great wineries in Sonoma County of course. We love La Crema Winery and Ferrari Carano as well as the wine and food at Ram’s Gate Winery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife Tara has been with me every step of this journey. She recently also left her career as a Fire Engineer to work full time with me in the business. She is the creator of the beautiful atmosphere that customer’s experience when they visit Fleur Sauvage Chocolates. We work well as a team. I handle all production and she handles the front of the house along with all other aspects of the day to day business.

Website: www.fleursauvagechocolates.com

Image Credits
jleestudio9

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