Hark! Is that the sound of the Husk Bakery Van?
Posted on
Not all heroes wear capes. But you can easily tell that Aaron Clark is a hero because wherever he goes, there is music—just like in the movies.
If you keep your ear out you can hear him and his Husk Bakery Van as he makes his way through the suburbs of Canberra on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. It sounds like the Mr Whippy van—only it brings pies instead of popsicles, sourdough instead of soft-serve.
Aaron has been a baker and pastry chef for the last 16 years, having spent three of them at Silo in Kingston. He set up Husk Bakery last October and was doing a roaring trade at the Southside Farmers Market and Capital Region Farmers Market at EPIC each weekend. But between the bushfires and COVID-19 social distancing measures, market trade has been down.
Aaron Clark.
So, Aaron decided to take matters into his own hands in terms of taking his product to the people. He figured if Mr Whippy could do it, so could he.
So he got Lisa Cahill from Atelier 818 Studio to paint up his van, then loaded it with freshly-made patisserie treats (Kronuts, Danishes, cinnamon scrolls, almond croissants, Portuguese tarts), a variety of breads (sourdough, olive and rosemary, nut and seed sourdough, and white Vienna), and tray loads of fresh pies ready to be baked at home (steak, bacon and cheese, chicken and leek, mushroom and blue cheese, Moroccan lamb). And then Aaron drove the streets of Canberra in search of customers.
Of course, ‘Mr Husky’, as we are now going to refer to him, is selling out.
“It’s been crazy, and the most fun I have ever had.”
Using his Facebook page to ask customers where he should head to, Aaron chooses suburbs with demand and lets people know which vicinity he will be in.
He’s usually around Kambah on Wednesdays and Casey and Moncreiff on Fridays but is always open to suggestions.
“I have come around the corner to see an entire cul de sac of people waiting on their driveways for me. Some people are dancing to the music.”
And in these uncertain times, when it barely seems worth the effort to change from sleepwear into leisurewear, Aaron has already seen it all.
“Oh yeah, lots of PJs,” he laughs. “One woman in the middle of dying her hair, and a guy doing a Zoom meeting ran down the street with his headphones on carrying his laptop wanting to buy some things.”
Aaron said customers loved the novelty and appreciated how fresh everything was.
Of course, there has been the odd kid disappointed to run out and find there is no icecream on offer.
“But then I show them the Kronuts and they are happy again, knowing they can still get their sugar hit.”
Follow Husk Bakery on Facebook here to see where Aaron will be pulling in next or head on over to his Instagram.
Leave a Reply