The Ryes* of  Canberra’s Cult Bakeries

Posted on 17 October, 2018

*Do we knead to explain?

Canberrans became bread snobs literally overnight with the opening of Silo in 1998.

Not only did this bakery provide locals with a heady hit of expertly-crafted European-style carbs, but it attracted plenty of attention from further afield—including the New York Times which described it as “part Brooklyn, part wartime Parisian bakery”. We were proud. And we were also hooked on superior croissants, not to mention stirato.

Cut to now, and Canberra has well and truly succumbed to the cult of bread. Do you want Three Mills Ancient Grain Sourdough with your soup, or is a Remy’s Danish Rugbrod more to your liking? Supermarket loaves have surely felt the scorn.

Meanwhile, the big gun arrived on Lonsdale Street in August in the form of famed Sydney bakery Sonoma. Competition is fierce—we can feel the humble starters fizzing around the city. Now we don’t want to start a bread war, but here are some of our favourite reasons to bust out the butter.

Silo

Silo has been a Canberra bread institution since its opening in 1998 and still boasts queues for its loaves every day. Silo’s current baker Angelo Fallace moved from Italy to Canberra in 1966. He trained under a Dutch pastry chef from Melbourne and has owned the Hughes Pâtisserie Bakery, as well as working at Crust Bakery at the Fyshwick Markets and The Baker at Sutton.

Obsesses over: Having the ability to create something from scratch and have people tell me how much they enjoy my end product. Also creating each croquembouche.

Least favourite part of the job: Getting up early in the morning—especially in cold weather.

Specialises in: Using local ingredients we create specialised dishes, make our own jams, biscuits, rustic breads, pastries as well as a large range of tarts.

Biggest sellers: Vanilla Brûlée Tart and the Potato Gruyere Quiche.

Sweetest treat: Saturday Snail Choc, with almonds and blueberries.

6 Giles Street, Kingston | Open Tuesday-Saturday 7 am-4 pm | silobakery.com.au

Three Mills Bakery

From humble beginnings in the basement of A.BAKER, Three Mills Bakery has established itself as one of Canberra’s best artisan bakeries. Chief Baker Justin King worked at Braddon’s Cornucopia before moving to A.BAKER and helping set up Three Mills in Majura.

Obsesses over: The sourdough, I am really happy with it this week so I am focussing on the pastries and our team are pushing to create new flavours.

Least favourite part of the job: There isn’t one. I see each step as part of the process for making the best bread and pastries, and I love doing that.

Specialises in: Long ferment, wild yeast sourdough breads and artisan pastries using yeast-leavened dough.

Biggest sellers: House Sourdough, Ancient Grain Sourdough, Croissants/Almond Croissants.

Sweetest treats: Burnt Miso Caramel Tarts and Pistachio and Blackberry Danish.

5 Lancaster Place, Majura | Open Monday-Friday  7.30 am-3.30 pm, Saturday 8 am-2 pm | threemillsbakery.com.au

Wildflour

His bread enjoyed a cult following during his time at Autolyse, and it’s no wonder given Chief Baker Romain Remy’s background—he trained in France and Switzerland and was the head baker for Bécasse in Sydney.

Obsesses over: Our dark rye loaf, a very dark, German type. Our dark rye has converted customers from white loaf! I also love to hear le chant du pain—”the sing of the bread”—when bread is out of the oven the crust is cracking a bit to release the excess of moisture left after baking.

Least favourite part of the job: Some might say we work strange hours but that’s the nature of the business.

Specialises in: Our 72-hour bread-making process. On the first day, we make a sponge from the starter, feeding it to develop the gluten. The next day we mix the dough. It has to rest for six hours before we shape into loaves. On the third day we bake. Our sourdough method imparts a rich flavour, which can be tangy or mild, as well as a toothsome inner crumb and a crackly crust.

Biggest sellers: Seeded Sourdough, Dark Rye, Baguettes and Croissants

Sweetest treat: We sell beautiful tarts made by our pastry chefs each day, but our sausage rolls and fougasse are hard to go past!

8 Townsville Street, Fyshwick | Open  Monday to Saturday 7 am-3 pm | wildflour.com.au

Sonoma

The newest kid on the Canberra bread scene, Sonoma has been providing naturally leavened sourdough bread to Sydney’s best restaurants—including Quay, Aria, Tetsuya’s and Bennelong—for more than 20 years. This is their first location outside of Sydney. Chief Baker Stefan Pischke is European-trained and worked for the Sonoma team in Sydney in preparation for the Canberra launch.

Obsesses over: Seeing the finished product in a customer’s hands after about 36 hours of hard work is always very satisfying.

Least favourite part of the job: Waking up early. But it’s made easier when you get to see and smell the fresh bread coming out of the oven into the store.

Specialises in: Sourdough and viennoiserie with a northern California influence.

Biggest sellers: Miche, our malted barley sourdough loaf.

Sweetest treat: Viennoiserie—this morning bun is our signature, with cinnamon and citrus sugar rolled through croissant pastry.

21 Lonsdale Street, Braddon | Open 7 am-4 pm, seven days | sonoma.com.au

Knead Patisserie

It attracts bread-lovers from around the city, and now Knead Patisserie has expanded—setting up a Campbell store to complement its Belconnen Markets’ flagship.

A team of 10 bakers man the ovens—all of them having trained in Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra.

Obsesses over: Creating seasonal specialties and special occasion cakes.

Least favourite part of the job: Keeping up with demand!

Specialises in: Sweet pastries, sourdough, baguettes and savoury pastries—think slow-braised beef or butter chicken pies and pork and fennel sausage rolls.

Biggest sellers: Sourdough, croissants and savoury pastries.

Sweet treats: Crème Brûlée tarts, frangipane, chocolate and berry cheesecake tarts.

Shop 18, Belconnen Fresh Food Markets and 65 Constitution Avenue, Campbell | Open Wednesday to Friday 7.30 am-5 pm, Saturday 8 am-6 pm, Sunday 8 am-5 pm | facebook.com/KneadPatisserieCanberra 

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PHOTOGRAPHY  Tim Bean

This article originally appeared in Magazine: RISE for Spring 2018, available for free while stocks last. Find out more about Magazine here.

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