First Look: Baker Bleu’s New South Yarra Store Has Soft Serve and Sandwiches

Founded in in 2017, Baker Bleu has grown from a single store selling a handful of different loaves to one of Melbourne’s most beloved sourdough bakeries. The brand now has five bustling locations, including an outpost in Sydney, and is a fixture on many Melbourne restaurant menus.

This past weekend, just over seven months since opening the flagship store in Cremorne, owners Mike and Mia Russell officially opened a new store in South Yarra. The latest addition to the Baker Bleu family is right by the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Southern Lawn in the former Baker D Chirico pop-up space.

“It’s just a beautiful location, and a great spot for locals to get their daily bread and bits and pieces,” manager Chris Watson tells Broadsheet. Alongside loaves, country wheels and pastries (all made at the Caulfield North location), you’ll find soft serve, a first for Baker Bleu – and a South Yarra exclusive.

There’ll only be one soft serve flavour at a time, available as part of an affogato or in a cup loaded with house-made toppings. Watson says the new soft serve provides an avenue for the team to get creative with the bakery’s standard items.

The first flavour is a honey soft serve made with local Backyard Honey, and topped with caramelised croissant crumbs, olive oil and sea salt. For Christmas, the team is planning a panettone-spiced version garnished with caramelised crumbs. In the future, you might find warm apple pies topped with soft serve and flavours made using rye-infused cream.

There’ll also be sandwiches including the crowd-favourite salad sandwich (crushed avocado smeared on sourdough that’s filled with lettuce, beetroot, tomato, whipped tahini, and honey-and-harissa roasted carrots) and a poached chicken sandwich with green goddess dressing, roasted tomatoes and crushed avocado. “The bread is the foundation of everything we do,” says Watson. “Anyone can make sandwiches, and there’s a lot of people in Melbourne that make great sandwiches, but I think our bread really elevates it.”

Summer specials will include fresh heirloom produce, herbs and greens from Ramarro Farm and Somerset Heritage Farm, both based in rural Victoria. Unlike the Cremorne store, there’s no stone oven for pizzas. Instead, there’ll be a sourdough topped with tomato sugo, stracciatella, prosciutto, cheese, rocket and other fresh ingredients. Given its proximity to The Tan, the new store will soon offer a picnic box filled with a sandwich, sweet item and drink.

Though the space is takeaway-only, the interiors follow the other Baker Bleu stores’ sleek, artsy brutalism. Designed by If Architecture (Attica, Cutler and Etta, the fit-out is clad in stainless and galvanised steel. The South Yarra location incorporates the bubbling texture of recycled aluminium – as seen at the Cremorne store – which resembles the air bubbles on the inside of a sourdough loaf.

Baker Bleu South Yarra
183 Domain Road, South Yarra
No phone

Hours:
Daily 7am–4pm

bakerbleu.com.au
@bakerbleu