The rise and rise of Melbourne s new bakeries
Emma Breheny
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.