Perth bakers and friends, Zachary Flemming and Thomas Radford planned to open their artisanal bakery, , in Perth's southern suburb of Willagee, as a wholesale business.
Radford tells SBS Food, "We opened [the bakery] to have a big enough space to be able to make a substantial amount of bread quite easily so the space itself wouldn't compromise on the quality or the volume of bread that we wanted to produce."
But their unconventional approach of baking bread during the day lured pedestrians to their premises and made them rethink their plan.
Flemming tells SBS Food, "We were baking through the day, and people kept coming past and saying hello.
"People asked what we were doing, and we showed them."
They began handing out bread loaves and chatting with people.
The idea to turn their wholesale business into a retail one escalated when someone paid them good money for their products even though Flemming offered them for free.
"One guy came by and asked for two baguettes. He handed me 20 bucks and said, 'Give me two of them'. And I'm like, 'Well, you can just have them'."
As the person left, they said: "I'll see you again soon".
He handed me 20 bucks and said, 'Give me two of them'. And I'm like, 'Well, you can just have them'.
"After that, I was holding that $20 note in the air, and I was like, 'Wow, someone just gave me cash for something that I'm so passionate about and care so much about," says Flemming. "I then skipped out to the back to tell Thomas."
Soon after, they opened a shopfront and Radford built shelves to showcase their bread, including sourdough with flavours like honey, walnut and porridge. A mixture of heavenly aromas and word of mouth quickly led to people queueing for their baked goods.
Through the window, customers watched the bakers fill the towering shelves to meet demand, but the supply soon outgrew the shelves so the pair restructured their shopfront into a canteen.
Flemming says he doesn't bake during the traditional night hours because this is not sustainable. He began baking in country NSW at 16, before travelling around the country to hone his baking skills, but this wasn't without sacrifices and impacts on his mental well-being.
Having a relationship between ourselves and the product we're making and the people we sell it to was part of our whole brand: making a product that is for everyone.
"I sacrificed a lot of parties and sleep and was just absent-minded for a big part of my life because I was going to work in the middle of the night and baking bread and not eating properly, not sleeping properly," Flemming says.
"So when we opened, I didn't want to be doing night shifts. I love this trade so much, and that's what tires people out."
The result is fresh bread. "I like eating bread, particularly baguettes and fougasse, when they first come out of the oven," Flemming says. "There's nothing more disappointing than walking into a bakery and seeing what's been left behind, made 12 hours ago. Fresh is best."
Their unconventional approach is working out.
"We didn't think we would open a retail shop out of this window," Radford laughs. "But having a relationship between ourselves and the product we're making and the people we sell it to was part of our whole brand: making a product that is for everyone."
It seems this place is more than your average tuck-shop window.
ALL THE BREAD
Pickled fennel jam with burrata and grilled bread
