Column 1:
a. 210824Tu-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-Eltham-bakery-.
b. 210718Su-Fairfax-GoodFood-AlbertPark-bakery.
c. 210522Sa-Melbourne’HeraldSun’- Walker’sDoughnuts-ShujinkoRamen-FlywheelBakery
d. 210524M-SouthYarra-station-RahBar-CommunityBakery. The bar is in the remodelled entry to the original low-level station building; the replacement high-level entry is rhs.
Column 2:
abc. 220205Sa-Fairfax-GoodFood-Sydney-Loulou.
d. 211126F-Melbourne’HeraldSun’-baking.bread
e. 210807Sa-‘SMH’-Melbourne-SweetCanteen-patisserie
Column 3:
a. 160212-Maroochydore(Qld)-BakersDelight
b & 4bc. 210625F-Fairfax-GoodFood – RedBeard.bakery.
c. 210719M-Fairfax-GoodFood-Sydney-HumbleBakery
d & 4d. 211015F-Fairfax-GoodFood-DanaPatisserie
Column 4:
a. 211121Su-Melbourne’Age’-Iggy’sBread. From an item featuring Japanese knives.
Bolton Street Hot Bread Kitchen Eltham owner cops racist abuse. Kimberley Seedy August 24, 2021 Whittlesea Leader
The owner of a popular Eltham bakery has been forced to endure racist jibes, prompting her daughter to take action.
Yasmina Le from Bolton St Hot Bread Kitchen Eltham, has called out racist customers who have hurled abuse at her mum.
The daughter of an Eltham business owner has made a passionate plea for people to be kind, after her mum copped racial abuse from customers.
Yasmina Le took to LinkedIn to call out those who had made racist comments towards her mother Mia, owner of the Bolton Street Hot Bread Kitchen.
“During Victoria’s sixth lockdown, instead of waiting it out at home, I offered to volunteer at my mum’s small business,” Ms Le wrote.
“My mother … had told me she had been subjected to unfair treatment by customers, ie racial abuse where her accent was mocked, customers tell her to speak “better English” and overall aggressive behaviours.
“In times where small businesses are suffering, please remember to continue to be kind to our essential workers.
“Although she’ll continue to smile through the interaction, these kind of everyday ignorant comments aren’t necessary and are really mean.
“Be kind, be patient, and understand it isn’t necessary to hurl abuse if what you wanted is no longer in stock.
“We are also human too. Would you want to see your mother abused? Absolutely not.”
Eltham state Labor MP Vicki Ward shared Ms Le’s post on Facebook and said: “Hey people, get around and show your support for Bolton Street Hot Bread Kitchen.
“Their cinnamon doughnuts are The Best.
“Also, some of you – cut out the racism. Not cool.”
Ms Le told Leader her mum had been working in bakeries for about 15 years, and had faced racial abuse on a weekly basis.
“Over lockdown, especially last year with the origins of the coronavirus being from China, some comments have become more and more prevalent and more aggressive,” she said.
“I think I’ve witnessed it twice in person … (people) making fun of her accent, trying to correct my mother when she’s trying to pronounce a word, and even just assuming that we’re Chinese when we’re Vietnamese.”
Ms Le said her mum had the mentality that if she stood up her herself she would lose business, and wouldn’t be able to put food on the table for her family.
She said sometimes her mum over-pronounced words which made some people think she was aggressive.
“But she is a really, really sweet woman and I think a lot of regular customers who do come in understand that and are really nice,” Ms Le said.
“People should really be patient in these times because it is really hard on small businesses.
“My only message is be kind, be patient, and it shouldn’t have to be said: But try not to be racist.
“We’re just as Australian as everybody else is.”
More Coverage
How rice colour sparked cafe customer’s Covid rage
* Agree whole heartedly. My partner also experiences racism from customers. Last year was worst by far, the same as Mrs Le, people assumed he is Chinese when in fact Indonesian.
Though I’m not scared of losing customers like this, they are not wanted and promptly thrown out.
The Chinese do not deserve abuse either. Yes Covid came from China, that is not the fault of every Chinese person.
* We have a wonderful bakery in Malvern East called Loafers, run by a Australian/Vietnamese (I think) family for nearly 20 years.
Everyone loves this family & supports their business & always will.
They work their arses off 7 days a week to provide for their family, so cut the crap people who abuse these families!
And call it out if you see it happening to support them !
* Fantastic bakery, lovely people…. Please be respectful…
* Some people are down and out rude. There is no room for racism in our world. Wishing your mum and the bakery all the very best.
* Eltham isn’t renowned for its diversity. Doesn’t surprise me that this appalling attitude is experienced by those that don’t look like the majority. Sham it’s a lovely area of Melbourne just has a total lack of diversity.
* It’s a sad state of affairs and COVID has nothing to do with it. Unfortunately there’s a bit of it in the Diamond Valley. I’m white, fair complexation, born in Melbourne with European heritage.
I accepted the racisms growing up, going to school, even when I first started in my career.
I follow and go to the footy, have a drink at the local, including the RSL, celebrate all things Australian, observe ANZAC Day, respect the country and people in it and teach my kids the same.
Unfortunately I still experience it, I stay positive and think they are missing out on a new loyal friend, customer, neighbor, team mate, etc.
The rise and rise of Melbourne’s new bakeries EMMA BREHENY July 18 2021
Bread Club in owners Tim Beylie (left) and Brice Antier at their new bakery in Albert Park. Photo: Eddie Jim
Melbourne was riding high on a wave of quality sourdough and artisan pastries before the pandemic, with next-generation bakeries such as Caulfield North’s Baker Bleu, Brunswick East’s Wildlife and All Are Welcome in Northcote and Thornbury joining familiar stalwarts like Baker D. Chirico over the past five years. But we’re still hungry for more bread and cake.
More than a dozen bakeries have opened or expanded since early 2020, defying the economic odds of successive lockdowns. There’s Mabels in Toorak, Ripponlea’s Zelda – one of the few Melbourne bakeries offering kosher sourdough – and Bakemono, a hole-in-the-wall CBD spot that opened a month before COVID hit and has thrived.
It’s a far cry from the gluten-free days of the early 2010s. While that trend was already on its way out pre-coronavirus, the pandemic seems to have accelerated its demise.
Custard-filled comfort food at Bread Club in Albert Park. Photo: Eddie Jim
Bread Club, from two bakers with time at Baker D Chirico, fine-diner Vue de Monde and sourdough specialists Woodfrog, opened its first store in North Melbourne in January 2020. Within a year, owners Brice Antier and Tim Beylie added a location in Albert Park.
"In the first lockdown, we had no idea if we were going to stay open," says Beylie. "It was a bit scary. But we stayed pretty busy and we wondered if that was going to stop, and it hasn’t."
With few businesses deemed essential during lockdown and limited opportunities for pleasure, Melburnians are flocking to places offering buttery, sugary comfort in a brown paper bag.
Assorted treats at Raya cake shop and cafe in Melbourne. Photo: Nathan Yun
"You could get something at home and still feel really good," says Antier. "It’s not fine dining, but in terms of cost, it’s cheaper and you still feel gratified."
Comfort and homesickness were at play for accountant-turned-baker Raymond Tan when he used the first lockdown to experiment with the Malaysian sweets of his childhood.
Pre-pandemic, Tan baked towering cakes for weddings and was about to move into a studio to scale up operations. But when his Instagram posts of kueh – tapioca and rice flour treats sold all over Malaysia and Singapore – garnered an enthusiastic response and order requests, Tan changed tack.
In June 2020, his would-be studio became Raya bakery and cafe on Little Collins Street. The menu stars black sesame and miso chiffon cakes, chicken curry pies and kueh.
"I thought there are so many good bakeries in Melbourne already, what can I bring that’s different?" says Tan. "I tapped into my culture and came up with Raya."
Being able to trade with few adjustments during lockdowns is a huge boon for bakeries and patisseries. Unlike restaurant dishes, baked goods are built for takeaway.
“It’s not fine dining but … you still feel gratified.” Bread Club’s pastry and sourdough selection. Photo: Eddie Jim
In March last year, Andrew McConnell’s Gertrude Street wine bar Marion quickly flipped to Morning Market, a bakery, grocer and deli. Selling Baker Bleu bread plus cakes, biscuits and savoury items baked by the McConnell team, it was such a hit the first location found a permanent home three doors up the street. A Prahran Morning Market opened in April this year. Meanwhile, Baker Bleu is working on a second site after already moving to larger digs in 2019.
Sales have been strong for Audrey Allard, a former Lune Croissanterie chef who founded delivery-only business Holy Sugar in August 2020.
With fewer shifts at Lune, Allard poured her creative energy into curating boxes of elaborate sweet treats each week, posting them to Instagram for purchase. Wedges of lemon meringue pie, delicate mille-feuille and impossibly glossy eclairs were produced in limited quantities, with Allard initially making deliveries in her two-door Mitsubishi Lancer.
Raya on Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Photo: Leonard Law
At her peak, Allard was making 70 boxes of six different treats herself each week.
She puts the bakery craze down to new-found appreciation for the craft.
"During [the first] lockdown, everyone was trying to bake at home and I think they realised it’s harder than they thought."
Five more bakeries for lockdown and beyond
Fuumi Fuumi
This West Melbourne spot specialises in Japan’s fluffy white sandwich bread called shokupan, using it for crumbed prawn sangas and the more common pork katsu. There’s also shio pan – salted dough shaped like a croissant – chiffon cakes and a variety of stuffed breads with flavours such as takoyaki and pumpkin. 125 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne.
Tarts Anon
Take one out-of-work pastry chef, his super-organised speech pathologist partner and a lockdown, and you have a recipe for one of Melbourne’s best-loved new businesses of 2020. Tarts Anon sells two different tarts each week such as lemon and rhubarb or cherry and almond frangipane, made by ex-Dinner by Heston chef Gareth Whitton. His partner Catherine Way opens orders on Instagram every Monday. Orders via @tarts_anon; address provided when orders confirmed.
Moon
The spunky, younger sibling of Lune Croissanterie, Moon specialises in the cruller, a doughnut riff that involves a twisted round of choux pastry. Owner Kate Reid fell in love with the creations in New York four years ago and has added her own take to Melbourne’s offering. Go classic with cinnamon-sugar or try one of five glazes in flavours including vanilla and cappuccino. 50 Rose Street, Fitzroy.
Casa Nata
Purveyor of Portuguese custard tarts, Casa Nata has gone from casual pop-up to two permanent shops in just three years, with Thornbury open now and a second Windsor location under construction. Run by Portuguese pals Ruben Bertolo and Nelson Coutinho, the business is laser sharp in its focus, offering nothing but pasteis de nata and coffee. Why mess with a good thing? 846 High Street, Thornbury.
Small Batch Cellar Door
Down a bluestone lane away from North Melbourne’s main drag is Small Batch, once simply a coffee roastery and now a cafe and grocer. The drawcard is the pastry cabinet filled by the work of Charlie Duffy, a Tivoli Road alumni. Mead-poached pears meet Geraldton wax on an escargot, tiramisu is reimagined in a fluted choux pastry shell, and potato danishes are luxed up with truffle. The best part? A city location is on the way this year. 3-9 Little Howard Street, North Melbourne.
www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/the-rise-and-rise-of-mel…
BAKERY TRADES BAGUETTES FOR BASEBALL BATS
Flinders St’s Flywheel Bakery doesn’t just have baguettes behind its counter. In a clear indication of the danger on our city’s streets, they also stock baseball bats.
The artisan bakery has only been baking for six weeks but the shop has already been targeted by vandals and aggressive beggars.
Co-owner Antony Wallace said the state government’s proposal for a safe injection room in the former Yooralla building, 100m or so down the street, was “ridiculous”.
“Before COVID-19, there would be one junkie among a thousand corporates, but now it’s a lot more noticeable,” Mr Wallace said.
“We’re trying to bring corporates back to the CBD.”
He said their stretch of Flinders St was “struggling” and if the proposal were to get the green light, it would certainly affect business.
“You’re going to see people bypass Flinders Street station and get off at Parliament station instead.”
Mr Wallace said the pair of baseball bats were there for the safety of staff.
“Hopefully we’ll never use them.”
www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-councillor-a…
shujinko.com.au/flinders
Focaccia’s French cousin fougasse is the shape of things to crumb. ISABEL CANT February 5 2022
Loulou baker Brendon Woodward with his fougasse straight from the oven. Photo: Dylan Coker
With holidaying in Europe only just back on the cards, Sydneysiders have been turning their attention to a flatbread classic for a French boulangerie fix. Fougasse, a loaf hailing from Provence in southern France, is piquing the interest of food fans in restaurants and bakeries.
Traditionally used in France as a tester bread to assess the temperature of a woodfire oven, fougasse is shaped like a leaf or sheaf of wheat. Two-hatted Fred’s in Paddington has been serving the bread for some time, but more venues are now experimenting with the form.
"Fougasse is probably the one bread that we’re selling out of every day", says Brendon Woodward, head baker at Lavender Bay boulangerie and bistro LouLou where fougasse is made daily until 5pm.
"Fougasse is probably the one bread that we’re selling out of every day", says Loulou’s Brendon Woodward. Photo: Dylan Coker
"It’s pretty versatile. We’ve been changing up with flavours, but we started with olive parmesan and thyme. This week we’ve been doing caramelised onion and brie."
Woodward says LouLou has also given fougasse a luxe makeover in the bistro.
"We’re roasting off snails with a heap of garlic and fresh herbs. Once that’s cooked off, we throw in some bone marrow and we’re putting all that through the dough … It’s a rustic product, but you can spice it up to be a little more upmarket."
The holes in the fougasse’s shape allow the bread to have a higher crust to crumb ratio. Photo: Dylan Coker
Fougasse and its unique shape is not just a pretty face. The holes in the shape allow the bread to have a higher crust to crumb ratio.
"Fougasse is something that’s perfect to have with dips or soups because it stays crunchy," says Woodward.
Francois Poulard, executive chef at Manly’s new Mediterranean-inspired restaurant The Tropic, was also excited by fougasse’s iconic shape.
His made-to-order woodfired bread is a special mix between fougasse, focaccia and pizza dough, but served in the traditional fougasse shape.
"The first idea to make fougasse was [due to] our woodfire oven," says Poulard "Cooking bread to order in that oven was a no-brainer.
"We just started to play around and do different shapes. We tried to do a ring, we tried to do a pull-apart, and then we thought, ‘Why don’t we just do a fougasse?’ You can really shape it the way you like, have fun and play around with it. Bread should be playful."
Marta owner and chef Flavio Carnevale bakes focaccia in his Rushcutters Bay Roman kitchen. Photo: Louise Kennerley
Poulard, hailing from Brittany in France’s north-west, has fond memories attached to fougasse, and reckons a full-on revival will come in due course. "That shape, it’s very nostalgic and a little bit old-fashioned. A lot of old-fashioned things come back."
A similar revival has occurred with fougasse’s Italian cousin, focaccia, with many venues selling the springy bread at lockdown bake sales.
Flavio Carnevale, owner of Marta Osteria, started baking a wide range of Roman-style focaccias at his Rushcutters Bay restaurant during COVID. The takeaway concept proved so popular that he is slinging the full loaves today.
"Initially we had it on the restaurant menu as a thing on the side with mozzarella or prosciutto," says Carnevale. "When COVID came in, we decided to use the same dough in our bake sales. People became addicted to it. Now we have 30 different kinds."
Aniruddha Bhosekar, baker at Fabbrica in CBD, witnessed the same phenomenon happen when he started selling focaccia too. He says it is now the pasta shop’s main product.
"Focaccia is probably one of my favourite things to make every day. You can pair it with so many ingredients under the sun".
Potato and anchovy is Fabbrica’s top-selling focaccia, but Bhosekar’s favourite meal to eat with bread is a testament to focaccia’s versatility.
"This might be a bit sacrilegious, but honestly it goes awesome with butter chicken … It’s a great supporting actor to main dishes."
Sydney’s French and Italian flatbread love isn’t ending anytime soon. Recently opened Italian venue Fortuna in Darlinghurst has plans for a "design your own" focaccia service.
"We’ll have a focaccia and whatever toppings you want, and we’re going out to the tables with the bread on a trolley", says Fortuna co-owner George Nahas. "It hasn’t been done here yet, so we’re really serious about it".
www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/focaccias-french-cousin-…
Sydney’s favourite pandemic pastry chefs prepare for a big Valentine’s Day. CALLAN BOYS February 13 2022
Baker Isabella Leva of Pane Dolce prepares Valentine’s Day deliveries in the bakery she set up in her garage during the pandemic. Photo: Edwina Pickles
One of the silver linings of COVID, at least for anyone with a fondness of slices and tarts, has been the rise in dessert businesses delivering sweets from oven to door.
"We were getting a bit bored being in lockdown, so we started creating cakes and tarts for delivery," says former Rockpool pastry chef Isabella Leva who founded Earlwood bakery Pane Dolce with her partner John Laureti in 2020.
Like many new dessert businesses to launch in the past two years, Pane Dolce is home-based, eliminating the barrier to entry of needing to sign a commercial lease.
"I’m very lucky to have a dad who works in construction, so he sectioned off a small space in the garage and we fitted it out with a deck ovens, a dough sheeter and big spiral mixer," says Leva. "It’s definitely not what you would call a ‘home kitchen’."
Pane Dolce’s morning buns and weekly-changing pastry boxes were big sellers through lockdown. "Then restrictions were lifted and whole cakes became popular because friends and family could get back together," says Leva.
The business has been such a success that Leva and Lauretti and now renovating an old shop in Lewisham to open a brick-and-mortar site next year.
Pane Dolce’s chocolate strawberry rose for Valentine’s Day is also avaible for delivery until February 19. Photo: Edwina Pickles
Other home-based cake heroes of COVID that continue to thrive include former Momofuku Seiobo chef Samantha Alice Levett who takes orders through Instagram for iced chiffons that look like Royal Easter Show ribbon winners from the 1960s. Added Sugar also rose to dessert fame on social media through the pandemic and offers equally frou-frou creations.
Blood’s Bakery owner Alex Lynn crafts delicious sourdough, custard puffs and tarts from his Ultimo apartment for pick-up and delivery, while former software engineer and Home Croissanterie founder Ben Lai bakes French breakfast pastries to order in his personal oven.
When the pandemic cancelled events for caterer Alex Cadger, the business owner was quick to pivot his Blonde Butler service to deliver retro sweets.
"We’re focusing on all the old school stuff such as pineapple doughnuts and jam-filled long johns," says Cadger. "When the lockdowns hit, people wanted to send food to their friends, but there are only so many times you can deliver a box of sandwiches."
This week Cadger has been preparing for a late influx of Valentine’s Day requests and still has some chocolate strawberry-topped brownie slabs available at the time of publication.
However, with a two business-day delivery time, it’s unlikely that any last-minute orders will arrive by February 14. "Regardless, I’m still expecting a lot of calls this weekend from desperate partners," says Cadger.
"It’s definitely not what you would call a ‘home kitchen’." says baker Isabella Leva of Pane Dolce. Photo: Edwina Pickles
Thicc Cookies is another dessert delivery service to enjoy success through COVID, delivering 5000 cookies a day during last year’s lockdown. The family-run business is now selling about 5000 cookies a week compared to July, although Valentine’s Day orders are back at peak pandemic levels.
By Friday, Thicc had sold out of its one-kilogram "Lovefetti" choc-chip cookie for February 14 delivery, but the heart-shaped biscuit has proved so popular that bakery founder Chris Sheldrick is making it a permanent menu item.
"We didn’t say on our website that ‘you can’t order this cookie for delivery after Valentine’s Day’ and now there are orders for it stretching over the next few weeks," he says. "It should be handy for all those guilty people who forgot about Valentine’s Day on Monday."
Former Momofuku Seiobo head pastry chef Samantha Alice Levett has set up her own dessert delivery service through Instagram. Photo: Chris Chen
Pane Dolce is also delivering its chocolate strawberry rose through to Saturday for any couples celebrating Valentine’s later in the week. The $8 tart features strawberry compote and leaves of Valrhona chocolate ganache sprayed velvet cocoa butter, not to mention a little gold leaf for the occasion.
Last-minute Valentine’s Day treats for pick-up
Home-based cake businesses are beaut if you remember to order a few days in advance, but anyone without a February 14 delivery already booked may need to visit a real-life shop.
Humble Bakery
Decisions, decisions. Heart-shaped lamington topped with a generous tumble of coconut, or a heart-shaped gingerbread cookie featuring a "Be Mine" in pink icing? Consider taking both home and a lush finger bun to boot. 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills; 02 9435 0801.
Saga Enmore
The $15 "Izzy" mini-cake from meringue master Andy Bowdy is a menu constant, but you would be hard pressed to find a more Valentine’s Day appropriate dessert. A riot of vanilla butter cake, strawberry mousse, pandan custard, coconut, strawberry compote and salted caramel. The patisserie is closed Monday so make a beeline today. 178 Enmore Road, Enmore; 02 9550 6386.
Tokyo Lamington
A handful of V-Day $25 lamington three-packs are still available to order for pick-up at the time of writing. A nifty little number filled with rose cream, raspberry jelly and lychee is the lamington you’ve been looking for. 277 Australia Street, Newtown; 0404 662 397.
Loulou
Lavender Bay’s shiny new bistro, boulangerie and traiteur is your one-stop shop for beautiful pâté en croute and a raspberry passionfruit tart. An excellent Valentine’s Day dinner in any universe. 61 Lavender Street, Milsons Point; 02 8000 7800.
Berkelo
Extra kudos goes to this northern suburbs favourite for its "I Want Choux" Valentine’s Day pun. Berkelo’s four stores are spruiking a trio of special edition profiteroles including one choux sporting strawberry, mascarpone and rose petals. Locations in Brookvale, Manly, Mosman and Mona Vale.
www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/sydneys-favourite-pandem…
Fri.26.11.21 Melbourne ‘Herald Sun’ In 1949, workers were at loggerheads over a half-baked plan to stop making fresh loaves before dawn and instead deliver bread cooked the day before.
As the Herald reported, the employees’ union, the Operative Bakers’ Society, had been pushing for day baking to replace pre-dawn baking in Melbourne for more than 30 years.
“The Master Bakers have fought it, crust and dough, and beaten it each time,” The Herald reported.
“The Trades Hall adopted it as the policy of all the unions in 1943, and now it hopes the state government will treat the move from a non-party viewpoint, and order day baking.
“Flour millers, bakers, and bakers’ employees all agree that bread a good deal better than Melbourne’s average would have to be made, to be palatable when delivered the day after baking.”
The unions argued that introducing day baking, which was common in the country, would end the dispute between operative bakers — who baked the bread — and the bread carters.
“Starting time in the bakeries was recently changed from 4am to 5am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays,” The Herald reported.
“That was good for the baking men, but the carters got a later start, and threatened to strike. Then they earned a lot of praise by deciding to give the new times a trial.”
The union wanted workers to start making bread in daylight, so it would not be out of the oven before late afternoon, for deliveries from 8am or 9am the next day.
February 12, 2016. Maroochydore baker wins franchisee award
A MAROOCHYDORE Bakers Delight franchisee was among those recognised in the Franchise Council of Australia’s awards ceremony this week.
Bakers Delight franchisee Ryan Kirkham. Picture: Brett Wortman / SCN150411HOTCROS
The important contributions that franchising makes to local communities and the opportunities the sector provides to foster business success were on show at the Franchise Council of Australia’s 2016 Queensland and Northern Territory Excellence in Franchising Awards presentations in Brisbane on Monday night.
Winners at the event included Ryan Kirkham, Maroochydore Bakers Delight franchisee, who took out the Franchisee Community Contribution and Responsibility award. Franchising provided Ryan with a career path and opportunity to become a small business owner.
Starting out as a Bakers Delight apprentice as a teenager, Ryan has recently purchased his third Bakers Delight franchise.
As a local business owner on the Sunshine Coast, Ryan believes in the importance of putting back into the community and supports a range of charity groups and initiatives including supporting Wishlist, a Sunshine Coast charity that raises money for the improvement of local public health services and through Life Church makes weekly bread donations that go to help homeless people and struggling families within the community.
"The Bakers Delight network are really fantastic with supporting charitable organisations and helping groups out," Ryan said.
"As a network, we have several large charity events every year that we donate to. Having that platform from a network perspective makes it a lot easier to go out and do something in our local community. It just gives you the right place to start from."
…Following their success, all winners have qualified as finalists for the MYOB FCA National Excellence in Franchising Awards. The Gala Awards Dinner will be held in Canberra on Tuesday 11 October at the culmination of the 2016 National Franchise Convention.
www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/bus…
Bakers lend a hand to help RedBeard make its daily bread RICHARD CORNISH June 25 2021
Keeping the oven fire burning: The RedBeard team (from left), baker David Haines, apprentice Fin Ward, baker Michael James, and cooks Angela Nicolettou and Lachlan McFarlane. Photo: Richard Cornish
Down a quiet lane in the central Victorian town of Trentham is a little bakery. The laneway is named after John Wolff, who hand-built the bakery’s wood-fired scotch oven in 1891.
Bread from that oven fed the farming and forestry town until 1987, when, unable to compete with cheap, fluffy white factory bread, the bakers let the fire die, and the oven went cold.
In 2005, brothers John and Alan Reid discovered the oven, recently renovated by a local musician, and went into business baking sourdough bread. They named the bakery RedBeard, and it again became the heart of the community when locals were invited to cook their roasts and bake cakes for special events once the bread had been made. Eventually, Alan went out on his own and John continued building the business with their sister, Judith Reid.
John Reid from RedBeard Bakery in Trentham, photographed in 2007. Photo: Sandy Scheltema
But John Reid, 58, is not at the bakery today. He seldom is these days. Early this year, he started getting headaches and on February 14, he couldn’t drive home after a bake. On February 23, he was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma brain cancer and a week later, surgeons were only able to remove half of the 6cm tumour that had formed in his brain.
Word of Reid’s condition spread across Victoria’s tight-knit baking community, many of whom had trained at RedBeard, which specialises in handmade organic sourdough bread.
"Wild-ferment bakers came out of the woodwork, out of retirement, to offer their help," says Reid’s sister, Judith. "They volunteered their time and arrived at midnight to start mixing. Some arrived at 3am to shape the dough. There is a lot of respect for what John has done for baking."
An organic sourdough loaf from the bakery. Photo: Supplied
One of the helpers is British-born baker Michael James, formerly of Tivoli Road Bakery in South Yarra. A good friend of Reid’s, they travelled together in the United States visiting bakers. "He was known everywhere we went," says James. "He has a reputation that is known globally. Locally, he is an important mentor."
John and Judith Reid have travelled all over Australia, scouring country towns for disused scotch ovens, identifying them by their chimneys protruding from old buildings. After cataloguing them, they try to restore them and find bakers to work in them.
James starts listing Victorian bakeries whose bakers spent time with Reid at RedBeard: Basilio in Ballarat, Oak and Swan in South Gippsland, Two Fold, Daylesford. "John has a vision where every town has its own baker, baking sourdough bread and pastries made from local grain," says James.
He has taken over Reid’s pet project: perfecting croissants and other butter pastries using specially raised sourdough mothers. "It’s more complicated than it looks," says James.
The stoic Englishman pauses. "John is the heart and soul of RedBeard," he says quietly. "He is a foundation of our nation’s artisan baking community. We are here to make sure what he started continues."
Reid has not only trialled old-fashioned heritage grains but, working with writer Bruce Pascoe, he has planted trial plots of kangaroo grass and native millet in a paddock opposite the bakery in an effort to bake bread from native Australian grains.
Baker Michael James has been pitching in at RedBeard Bakery. Photo: Richard Cornish
Now undergoing treatment and spending time with his wife, Thais, sons, and close family, Reid would desperately like to go back to bake, says Judith. "Despite the fact he has lost 50 per cent of his vision, he is still able to cut and portion raw dough, weight-perfect for a loaf – without scales – and form it by hand."
Reid’s wife and business partner, Thais, intends to keep the bakery running. RedBeard’s improvised bakery team moves quietly, efficiently around each other in a well-rehearsed dance of weighing, measuring, cutting, cooking, shaping and baking. There is a warm energy occasionally dampened by tacit sadness.
Apprentice Fin Ward, from Darwin, chops leeks silently. Cook Angela Nicolettou, who joined the team in November, came for a sourdough bread-baking workshop and was so impressed by Reid’s ethos she asked if she could help in the kitchen.
"RedBeard is a very special place," says Nicolettou. "It’s not just about bread; it’s about creating and spreading knowledge and building relationships at the same time. "John’s condition…" She falters. "I just feel so privileged."
www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/bakers-lend-a-hand-to-he…
The rise and rise of Sydney’s new-wave bakeries LEE TRAN LAM July 19 2021
Sydney’s on a roll with a new wave of chef-lead bakeries: Shiitake mushroom pithivier at LuMi. Photo: Supplied
Sydney’s best new sandwiches 2021
Chefs have fuelled Sydney’s newfound appetite for pastries, and their spin-off bakeries are here to stay.
The story of Lode Pies begins with a rolling pin and some bruises. The star item at Federico Zanellato’s soon-to-open Surry Hills bakery is the pithivier, a French style of pie that’s physically tough to make.
Tickled pink: the finger bun is back, and it’s no longer just a tuckshop treat
"When I was doing all the trials, I cried for months because I couldn’t get it right," the award-winning chef says.
He initially attempted it in late 2018 at his Pyrmont restaurant, LuMi Dining. When Zanellato served his first successful pithivier there three months later, the tears might’ve stopped – but the pain didn’t.
He was using a rolling pin to incorporate butter into the dough and it was a "nightmare", Zanellato says. "All my hands were destroyed." Another chef had bruises all over his fingers and palms.
Alyce Bennett and Ben Milgate at Humble Bakery in Surry Hills with their pink finger buns. Photo: Janie Barrett
Each pithivier is built from layers of laminated dough, with butter painstakingly folded in between. "It would take forever," he says.
Once Zanellato nailed it, the pithivier became a massive hit at LuMi Dining. "But I’ve probably destroyed three or four chefs," he jokes. "I think they gave up cooking because of the pie, because of the pithivier."
At Lode Pies, which the chef hopes to open in August, the experience will be bruise-free: the chef has spent $10,000 on a machine that will automatically laminate fridge-temperature dough – no rolling pin needed. It’ll hopefully speed up the time-intensive process: at LuMi, the pithivier took three days to make.
During Sydney’s first lockdown last year, Zanellato offered a takeaway version at Restaurant Leo in the CBD, which he runs with Karl Firla. It sold out in minutes – and kept on selling. "We just couldn’t keep up with the production."
It was the same story at the Saturday markets Vic’s Meat ran at its Mascot site during the final stretch of lockdown. "When we go back to normal, the new normal, I want to think of a shop around the concept of a pie," Zanellato thought to himself.
He wasn’t the only one to think this – his customers were telling him this, too.
Tokyo Lamington co-owner Eddie Stewart tries a coffee chocolate eclair in Newtown. Photo: Wolter Peeters
"You should do pies, you should sell them separately, you should do a shop," they told him. He knew they meant it: there were healthy sales to back their affirmation.
Other chefs around Sydney saw a similar demand. When Flavio Carnevale turned his Roman cucina, Marta, in Rushcutters Bay, into a bakery during the first lockdown, his customers told him the same thing – he could never make enough maritozzi (brioche buns), focaccia or other baked Italian goods.
Any extra portions would disappear soon after they were put on display. "You’re not going to close," guests told him, indicating that Marta’s Roman Bakery had to become a permanent feature.
Apple crumble croissant at Stix bakery. Photo: Kitti Gould
"So basically we’ve kept it, every weekend," he says. More than a year on, it’s going strong and Carnevale has even extended the bakery’s opening hours throughout the week for this current lockdown.
It’s a sentiment repeated at the Sixpenny pop-up bakery in Stanmore, which currently has people queueing for at least 30 minutes for sweet treats and led to owner Daniel Puskas looking for a permanent spin-off bakery, too.
Right now, Zanellato is furiously testing recipes for Lode Pies with chef/co-owner Lorenzo Librino, who worked with him at LuMi for nearly two years. The pithivier will headline the menu: its well-scored pastry filled with gently cooked Berkshire pork mince and roasted shiitakes deglazed with red wine.
There are vegetarian versions in the works ("my favourite is silverbeet, ricotta and comte", Zanellato says), as well as interpretations of the French galette des rois dessert. "We have an Aussie version … made with a macadamia frangipane and desert lime jam."
Expect sausage rolls featuring heavily caramelised Berkshire pork mince. "We’ve been testing it with all the tradies at Lode at the moment," the chef says. "This is the best sausage roll, very different to the one I get from the petrol station!" they tell him. "I hope it is very different to the one at the petrol station, otherwise we’re going to close down the shop in a couple of weeks," Zanellato jokes.
There’ll also be northern-style cannoli filled with pistachio, hazelnut or rum and vanilla cream. It reminds Zanellato of his upbringing in Padua, in northern Italy, where cannoli was part of his diet. "They were one of my favourites." It’s a habit that Sydneysiders will likely take up when Lode opens.
Lode Pies, 487 Crown Street, Surry Hills, lodepies.com
The Sydney bakeries making lockdown a sweeter ordeal
Sourdough, scrolls and slices have helped us cope with the uncertainty of the past 18 months and these Sydney bakeries are part of a new breed making this current lockdown a sweeter ordeal.
Marta’s Roman Bakery
When Flavio Carnevale was 19, he delivered pastries to high-powered priests and nuns at the Vatican. Today, at Marta’s Roman Bakery, he offers baked goods that evoke memories of that first job. There’s airy Roman-style focaccia& and Lariano bread, named after a small town in the region. His maritozzi, featuring brioche buns topped with whipped cream, are extremely popular. "That is the Roman breakfast," he says.
30 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, marta.com.au
Try this Sfogliatelle, which reflect Carnevale’s southern roots. The mini versions, known as lobstertails, are filled with flavours such as limoncello or pistachio custard.
Pane Dolce
After the pandemic struck, Isabella Leva and John Laureti were stood down from their jobs at Pt Leo Estate on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Sourdough and sugar became their salvation: they created Pane Dolce, offering bread and pastry boxes online. When they moved back to Sydney, they brought the concept with them. Pastry chef Leva rotates the tart selection every fortnight: recently, the star items were Mr Pistachio, a pistachio financier with nutty mousse and crushed pistachios on top, and a basil-blitzed creme patisserie with fresh raspberries and compote. Leva’s mum even helps out with deliveries.
panedolce2020.com
Try this Morning bun rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Dulcet Cafe
What goes well with memoirs and manga? Excellent cake and fresh-brewed green tea, according to Dulcet Cafe, which became the on-site eatery for Books Kinokuniya in April. Since taking over Black Star Pastry’s vacated spot, Vivienne Li’s venue has served a rainbow-vibrant range of chiffon and 20-layer crepe cakes. The chef spent around five months perfecting her shokupan recipe and the pillowy Japanese bread is available here in classic, matcha-marbled or chocolate-sweetened varieties. Although the shop is closed during lockdown, its range is available online.
The Galeries (inside Books Kinokuniya), 500 George Street, Sydney, dulcetcakessweets.com.au
Try this Crepe cake, available in dizzying flavours, including peach oolong, yuzu osmanthus, and Musang King – a type of durian so prized it was once the subject of a famous heist.
Tokyo Lamington, Sydney
Portrait of N2 co-owner Eddie Stewart
Supplied PR photos by Nikki To
Tokyo Lamington has reinvented the classic lamington. Photo: Nikki To
Tokyo Lamington
Eddie Stewart (Black Star Pastry) and Min Chai (N2 Extreme Gelato) look at the classic lamington and see endless ways to reinvent it. Thai milk tea, black forest, Neapolitan, pandan and yuzu meringue? The iconic coconut-dusted cake has been reconfigured into those very flavours at their Newtown shop since its April opening. At their previous pop-up shop, they even had a Vietnamese curry version. The fairy bread flavour slathered with popcorn buttercream and encrusted in hundreds and thousands is immensely popular, but don’t overlook the black sesame canelés, and special lockdown bake sale specials such as coffee eclairs and lap chung sausage focaccia and an upcoming (post-lockdown) night-time sake bar menu.
277 Australia Street, Newtown, tokyolamington.com
Try this Bestselling OG lamington, dusted in roasted coconut, dipped in Belgian chocolate and sweetened with raspberry jam.
Home Croissanterie
Ben Lai spent his uni breaks at Quay (prepping snow eggs) and Copenhagen’s Noma (where he foraged pineapple weed), but his greatest culinary education took place at home, when he baked – and ate – thousands of croissant experiments, day after day, month after month. Last July, the software engineer began selling his baked goods as Home Croissanterie on Instagram. Order by sliding into his DMs: try a bun sweetened with four kinds of Meltdown Artisan chocolate and a salt-flaked pastry with crisp potato slices twirled through its floral folds.
instagram.com/homecroissanterie
Try this Cardamom pastry shaped from croissant offcuts and rolled in cardamom sugar, in tribute to Copenhagen’s Hart Bageri.
Humble Bakery
Humble Bakery is brought to you by Elvis Abrahanowicz, Ben Milgate and Joseph Valore, the people behind the beloved Sydney eateries (Porteno, Bodega) surrounding this bakehouse. This venue has earned a following for its finger buns, focaccia and excellent sandwiches, but it definitely benefits from its sister restaurants. The Basque cheesecake is courtesy of Bodega and the sandwich showcasing Porteno’s famously great Brussels sprouts was a genius addition.
50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, humblesydney.com
Try this Caramel-crisp Brussels sprouts sandwich, backed with a strong kick of romesco sauce.
The Popular bakery Flour Shop in Turamurra where they bake a limited number of pastries and breads run by Anu Haran and Laura Gonzalez. 31/07/20 Photo: Renee Nowytarger / SMH
Anu Haran and Laura Gonzalez at Flour Shop in Turramurra. Photo: Renee Nowytarger
Flour Shop
The samosa pies highlight the Indian heritage of owner Anu Haran – as do the peppery ginger cakes, inspired by something she tried in Goa. Being inclusive is important to her: for Ramadan, her team offered a custard tart with spiced dates, and laksa cookies appeared during Lunar New Year. Her waste-minimising creations include banana bread and butter pudding and lemon scrolls made with excess neighbourhood fruit.
16 Princes Street, Turramurra, flourshop.com.au
Try this Cinnamon scrolls, which might be Sydney’s best.
Good Ways Deli
Two weeks after opening in May, Good Ways Deli landed on Good Food’s list of Sydney’s best new sandwiches. Its salad sanga (featuring mushroom paté, sprouts, mayo, beetroot, carrots and Maffra cheese jammed between wattleseed ciabatta slices) scored the honour. Australian staples and native ingredients reign at this venue by Jordan McKenzie (Cornersmith) and Tom Pye (Coffee Supreme): expect lamingtons sweetened with not-so-typical rhubarb jam, wattleseed baked into brownies and sandwiches powered by kangaroo saucisson.
20 Cooper Street, Redfern, goodwaysdeli.com.au
Try this Salad sandwich, of course.
Stix Marrickville
At Stix Marrickville, pastry chef Daria Nechiporenko caramelises fruit in vanilla and white miso for her apple crumble croissants. She also presents lockdown-friendly celebration cakes (like a banana brulee creation) in quarter sizes that feed two instead of 16. But the hero pastry here is her Russian honey cake, layered with honey biscuits and dulce de leche. It’s a two-day process that requires two people to complete.
20 Chapel Street, Marrickville, stix.com.au
Try this Individual honey cakes, available in limited portions during lockdown. You can buy a full-sized version online, too.
All Purpose Bakery
You can credit Dougal Muffet for the noteworthy loaves and pastries that will feature at AP Bakery when it opens, the new venture for Mat Lindsay (Ester) and Russell Beard (Reuben Hills). Muffet previously produced baguettes and ciabatta at Restaurant Leo in the CBD ("he’s an amazing baker," says Federico Zanellato, his former boss) and he’s currently working with the Australian Grains Genebank, his wheat-farmer parents and sustainable growers to highlight lesser-known grains worth turning into dough. Building issues have delayed the opening, but the bakery is due later this year. In the meantime, find its country loaves, hazelnut praline bomboloni and oven-fresh goods at Reuben Hills and Paramount Coffee Project on weekends.
32 Burton Street, Darlinghurst, apbakery.com.au
Try this Buttermilk croissants, bolstered with freshly milled rye.
RELATED CONTENT Why we’re all mad for nostalgic baking (plus six classic Aussie recipes)
www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/the-rise-and-rise-of-syd…
Popular Balaclava bakery Dana Patisserie opens second shop in Bentleigh EMMA BREHENY October 15 2021
Dana Patisserie’s much-loved challah. Photo: Juliana Mare
Popular Balaclava bakery Dana Patisserie is now wowing Bentleigh with its burekas, friands, challah and croissant sandwiches after opening a second location this week that gives the kitchen more firepower.
The bakery began 11 years ago in an arcade off Carlisle Street, owners Dana and Amit Rosenwald moving to a tiny cake shop on Balaclava’s main drag in 2013. But having outgrown the kitchen, fate intervened when their landlord offered them a second site that used to be a bakery. They spent five months installing a custom kitchen with three big ovens, large spaces for production and plenty of cold storage.
Pastry chef Cedric Borreau had a large hand in the fit-for-purpose design.
Dana Patisserie in Bentleigh. Photo: Juliana Mare
"After six years working in a small kitchen, he’s thrilled," says Dana. "But we’re still baking in Balaclava. You know, if you have a second child, your first child still matters."
Despite the increase in production, it may not be any easier to get your hands on chocolate challah on Fridays or the popular gluten-free brownies. Bentleigh locals have enthusiastically welcomed the new patisserie, which mixes the Rosenwalds’ Israeli traditions with those of Borreau’s French upbringing and training.
Apart from challah, the business doesn’t bake bread, focusing instead on pastry, cakes and other sweets. So the team fills croissants, sandwich-style, with avocado, egg, feta and tomato or a Caprese-style mix of pesto, mozzarella and tomato.
"We thought people love the croissants, we make them, why not use them?" said Dana.
The menu at Bentleigh is slightly abbreviated for now while the team settles in and gets to know the locals, but that will change.
"We wanted to start with bestsellers and slowly introduce more and more. It’s always nice to leave room for surprises," says Dana.
The small shop doesn’t have room for tables inside, but has a handful outside so customers can enjoy Reverence coffee and pastries in the sun.
Open daily 7.30am-5pm.
347 Centre Road, Bentleigh, danapatisserie.com
Women’s micro-businesses offer a way out of the pandemic’s economic slump. Katina Curtis November 21, 2021
Maddy Connors and Yuko Nakao have big dreams for their micro-businesses: one aims to end period poverty in Indigenous communities while the other wants to save traditional Japanese metal crafts. Both are passionate about the economic standing of women.
As Australia’s economy recovers from the pandemic, the Global Sisters organisation is working to create a third option other than mainstream employment or welfare for women from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds to earn money.
Yuko Nakao delivers traditional Japanese knives to Ludmilla Ivanovic from Iggy’s Bread, which has bought from her growing business.CREDIT:EDWINA PICKLES
The organisation has helped more than 5300 women set up or grow their micro-businesses (employing between one and four people) through business coaching and mentorship, access to corporate networks, microfinance, and marketing and sales support. Thousands more signed up for online programs during 2020.
“Everyone knows that COVID has affected women more severely than men, so there are a lot of women out there that need work,” founder and chief executive Mandy Richards said.
“Mainstream employment is just not an option for so many women and for so many completely different reasons, depending on their circumstances and also owing to systemic and structural barriers.
“Some of the women we support want to earn an extra $50 a week to make ends meet, and other women we support are literally heading to take over the world.”
Ms Nakao and Ms Connors were among 30 women who took part in Global Sisters’ annual event to pitch business strategies to entrepreneurs and corporate mentors.
In January 2020, female workforce participation reached a peak of 61.5 per cent before falling away dramatically when the pandemic hit. It climbed up to 61.9 per cent in March this year but dropped again through the Sydney and Melbourne lockdowns.
October’s unemployment rate for women was at 5.4 per cent, compared to 5 per cent for men.
Maddy Connors wants to grow her Fierce Tidda Club into a social enterprise producing the first Aboriginal-owned and designed period products.CREDIT:SIGRID PETERSEN
Women who had jobs were more than twice as likely to be working part-time than men, and 1.14 million more women than men weren’t in the labour force at all.
Ms Nakao understands the importance of women’s economic independence, saying she sees friends and family back in Japan who suffered trying to balance societal expectations while pursuing their own professional careers.
She was attracted to Global Sisters initially because of its microfinancing.
Her husband offered that she could borrow money from his landscaping business to grow hers, but she said while “my husband’s my A-team”, financial differences could cause tensions.
“I want to do it myself. And I don’t want to ask him, ‘Can I use this money for this?’ because my decision, my financial decisions and business decisions are different to my husband’s,” she said.
She imports and sells traditional Japanese blades: chef’s knives, scissors, secateurs and floristry cutters. Her passion is to keep traditional crafts alive.
“The craftsmen are ageing and because there’s no money in it, the young people are not doing it,” she said.
Ms Nakao recently took on two casual employees, both mothers, saying she wanted to hire people like her and offer them flexibility because she knew how hard it had been for her to find work when her children were young.
Her pitch asked for network introductions and high-end stockists for her products.
Ms Connors, a proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, and Gamilaroi woman, sought to raise capital to get her new venture, Fierce Tidda Club, into the manufacturing stage.
She worked in public health across community and Aboriginal health agencies before she went on maternity leave and then the pandemic struck.
She saw a gap in the market for menstruation products aimed at Indigenous people. When she started to research the idea, she discovered the high levels of period poverty among Indigenous communities, with often limited access to menstruation products like pads and tampons that can lead to girls missing school and losing out on opportunities.
“Not only did I see a gap in the market for selling products, I also saw a gap in what services were providing to Aboriginal people with periods or even menopause,” Ms Connors said.
“Many young women in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities aren’t attending school … for several days during menstruation which means missing out on reaching their full potential.
“There seem to be less conversations about those things than anything and I think it’s still a really important health concern to be being addressed.”
She aims to build her business to sell the first Aboriginal-owned and designed reusable period products. But further than that, she plans to donate products each month to Indigenous communities to help address period poverty and eventually aim to reduce the stigma and shame around menstruation.
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www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/women-s-micro-business…
