Samantha Moredo shows one of dozens of her French/Filipino delicacies at FiliChateau in Mt. Juliet, a pistachio baklava cheesecake with a lemon rose syrup. Moredo and her sister and mother opened the bakery last month. LAURIE EVERETT
If you long to travel to France and the Philippines and pleasure your palate with the pastries and desserts there, you now can chuck the plane ticket and experience those desserts in Mt. Juliet.
FiliChateau is a family business which opened last month in Mt. Juliet. A mother and her two daughters combined their culinary and creative talents for a fusion food experience of Filipino and French tastes.
The bakery is located across N. Mt. Juliet Road from West Wilson Middle School. It offers a calm ambiance with painted murals of the Eiffel Tower and the streets of Paris, as well as palm tree landscapes of the Philippines. There’s a see-through area for customers to observe the deliciousness in progress in the kitchen.
Samantha Moredo, 23, is the baker at FiliChateau. Her sister, Andrea Moredo Benson, is the creative force of the business. Their mother, Vilma Moredo, is the business entrepreneur who founded TheraV Massage in Mt. Juliet nine years ago. That business is next door to FiliChateau.
“My dream is to use my knowledge gained from my studies at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts to fuse French and Filipino baking techniques to create a unique and exotic menu of desserts,” Samantha said.
The gleaming cases at the bakery are full of delicacies such as Ensaymadas (a Filipino brioche-like pastry), pecan rolls dipped in rich caramel and rolled on toasted pecans), French baguettes, the Enchanted Forest (Filipino pastry with dates, walnuts and cranberries), croissants, puff pastry tarts, Paris-Brest (from France, a custard candy ball) and cream puffs.
Samantha, who said that she wakes up each day at 3:30 a.m. to start baking, was born in the Philippines. The family came to the United States when she was 11. The family looked for a place to live that was church-based and Mt. Juliet was its pick. The family moved there in 2013. Samantha attended West Wilson Middle School and Wilson Central High School and graduated in 2020.
“When young I was involved in performing arts, mostly vocals and musical theatre,” she said. “I wanted to be an opera singer or a nurse.”
An early age foray in the kitchen was to make peanut butter cookies for her sister, Andrea. Then she advanced to cupcakes and said she knew she loved baking.
“The idea of feeding people became a passion,” she said “I loved it. And, we didn’t have a conventional oven at the time and I did everything in a toaster-oven-type device.”
Samanatha attended Cumberland University as a nursing student.
“But, I was not good in biology,” she said. “I didn’t really have that passion to be a nurse.”
She changed her major to art during her last semester.
“It was my vibe,” she said. “Design. And designing cakes and more. Something creative.”
After earning her degree, she prayed for a sign for direction. Her sister loved French pastries so Samanatha enrolled in the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts where she earned her diploma in Baking and Pastries.
“My consuming goal is to fuse French and Filipino baking techniques to create a distinctive menu of unique and exotic desserts that will help make life a little more enjoyable to various peoples,” she said.
She then took part in a Disney internship and ended up at a resort in Wisconsin in a baking pastry program.
“I kept learning new pastries in a world pastry course,” she said. “I hand wrote all the recipes and techniques I refer to today.”
A fire burned down the resort and that’s what brought Samantha back to Mt. Juliet in 2023.
The trio was back together and FiliChateau was born rather quickly.
“We wanted a place to gather to bring people closer,” she said. “And the joy of feeding people.”
Andrea’s background is music production, graphic design and modeling.
“To be honest, I did not anticipate where or how I’d be back in my happy place which happens to be building of our dream,” she said. “My sister, my mother and I love food. Our version of spending time together would mean a stop at a good café or restaurant. When I moved here I was craving all the Filipino and French desserts. We joked about creating our own. Somehow that dreamed turned into a reality. With a lot of work, faith and prayer, God made it happen. Now I get to be creative director.”
When they came to Mt. Juliet in 2013 there were not a lot of places that offered their native dishes or the sweet taste of European treats.
“The Filipino taste of a tropical island, and pastries from France,” said Samantha. “We thought what a great fusion in Mt. Juliet.”
FILICHATEAU
Location: 1097 Weston Dr., Mt. Juliet
Owners: Vilma Moredo, Andrea Moredo Benson and Samantha Moredo
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, closed.
Phone: (615) 462-8357
On the menu: French and Filipino pastries, pecan rolls, brownies, French baguettes, cinnamon chocolate rolls, croissants, tarts and cream puffs.
Samantha Moredo, the pastry chef at the new FiliChateau bakery in Mt. Juliet, shows croissants made with a French recipe she learned at pastry culinary school. Moredo was born in the Philippines and opened the bakery with her mother and sister. LAURIE EVERETT
Pastry cruffins are ready for the oven at FiliChateau pastry shop in Mt. Juliet. LAURIE EVERETT
Pastry Chef Samantha Moredo checks on some bakery items in the oven at the new FiliChateau pastry shop in Mt. Juliet. LAURIE EVERETT
Pastry chef Samantha Moredo makes pecan rolls by hand every day at the new FiliChateau bakery shop in Mt. Juliet. LAURIE EVERETT