We were overjoyed with the addition of the Fama Charcuterie Factory and Delicatessen at Victoria Yards. It’s an ode to the artisan, where the process of preparing, salting, and ageing beautiful cuts of pork is an art, and where giant legs of serrano [the Spanish version of prosciutto] ham are displayed throughout the store with pride.
We met with owners Nuno and Carla Fernandes to explore their Fama factory, get a first taste of their on-site deli and café, Curado, and experience first-hand the wonders of local artisanal charcuterie.
Fama Delicatessen was established in 1987 in Lorentzville by Roberto Sa Gimenez, a master charcutier who’d learnt the art from his father. But Roberto had no children, and so no one to pass the art and legacy down to. That was until he met the Fernandes couple.
Nuno and Carla spent the first half of their lives working in corporate but had a dream to open a Portuguese coffee shop and deli. In 2003 they took the leap and opened their café, Bembom (Portuguese for ‘awesome’). Carla had left her job so that she could run the operations, but the plan was for Nuno to continue with his work as an engineer. However, Nuno explains that the business just took off, “From day one, as we opened those doors, people were just rushing in.” They were so busy that Nuno had to leave his job almost immediately, and before they knew it they’d opened a second branch.
Bembom was getting their charcuterie from Sa Gimenez, which is how they met. Sa Gimenez was immediately taken by what Nuno and Carla had created, especially their artisanal way of doing things. They soon started discussing the possibility of buying Fama from Sa Gimenez. Nuno said he’d be happy to, but only if someone bought Bembom first. And then in 2010, out of the blue, someone walked into the Fernandes's café and offered to buy their business. And that was it, they sold Bembom and bought Fama.
Sa Gimenez then spent the next few years teaching Nuno everything there was to know about making different kinds of pork charcuterie before officially retiring. Nuno smiles and adds, “Roberto still hasn’t stopped coming, just for a cup of coffee, he’s basically family, and even he says it’s a nice success story and is happy he sold it to us.”
The Nuno and Carla continued to run operations in Lorentzville for 13 years before relocating to Victoria Yards in June 2024. Carla adds, “We’re very happy to be in this space, we love this environment, it feels like home…a place for our customers to come and relax.”
Nunu takes us downstairs for a walking tour through the factory. It’s an impressive set-up, but one that still values traditional methods and making everything from scratch by hand. We visit the cold rooms, each dedicated to different processes (such as salting whole legs of ham in enormous vats for days), and then the main curing room, a treasure-trove of pork delicacies: rows of chorizo, coppa, salami, serrano, and more, all curing, resting like fine wines until they reach perfection.
Nuno adores to travel, especially to Portugal and Spain. His father grew up in a little village in Portugal, Nuno tells us: “He’d love to make his own chorizo, cheese, and olive oil. They lived off the land.” You can tell that the love of ritual and tradition runs through Nuno’s veins; his most recent visit was to the North of Spain because he feels it’s less tourist-driven, in his words, “more pure”. Nuno and Carla’s culinary adventures to Portugal and Spain are now showcased through their café's menu. Nuno smiles and says, “It's about keeping it simple and making it good, sticking to authentic flavours that will showcase our products.”
We move back up to the café, where they have a few samples from the menu waiting at a table. Nuno tells us that the menu is Mediterranean, made up of mostly Iberian, Portuguese, and Spanish dishes. Nuno and Carla agree the most popular dish is the bifana, a Portuguese sandwich similar to a prego, but with thinly sliced shavings of pork gently poached in the most deliciously rich and spicy tomato-based sauce. This is served in crispy focaccia rolls dipped in the sauce and then plated with an added serving of sauce to ensure you can keep dipping. It’s absolute heaven.
There’s also a selection of Spanish potato and egg tortillas, croquetas, baked empanadas, sandwiches and, of course, charcuterie boards. Naturally, there’s excellent coffee, and as soon as they get their liquor licence there will also be wine! The set-up is simple and the offering is sublime so go and wander, look, taste, and talk to Nuno and Carla Fernandes, you'll be so glad you did.
Comments