Regional Victoria best bakery: San Remo and Heathcote bakeries win

Country towns are home to some of the best bakeries in the state. Here are two that came out on top in our search to find the best place.

San Remo’s Beachside Bakehouse and Heathcote's Gaffney's Bakery and Pie Kitchen were voted the best bakeries in Regional Victoria by Herald Sun readers in 2021.

There’s no denying that country towns are home to some of the best bakeries across the state.

Whether you’re searching for a delicious pastry, crusty loaf of bread or sweet jam doughnut, here are two places that came out on top in our hunt to find the best bakery in regional Victoria.

SAN REMO

Beachside Bakehouse owners Emily Sloan and Steven Bell. Picture: Supplied

Owning a bakery had been a lifelong dream for Steven Bell and something his wife Emily Sloan fully supported.

The Wonthaggi pair took ownership of Beachside Bakehouse in July 2019 and haven’t looked back.

“He (Mr Bell) has been a baker for 20 years and loves what he does,” Ms Sloan said.

“So we thought why not make some of our own dough rather than someone else’s.”

With a team of 10 employees, Ms Sloan said the bakery stands out from the rest are they are passionate about the business.

“We like to keep things quite traditional and simple,” she said.

“And by being a smaller business, it allows us to interact on a personal level with our customers.”

Ms Sloan said trading during COVID-19 lockdown was difficult and took a toll on the bakery.

“We didn’t have the busy weekends or even the busy weekdays,” she said.

“We had our lovely locals and regular customers who kept supporting us with their essential bread and food products that they continued to purchase.”

She said other challenges of owning a business is dealing with the continuous paperwork.

“There is always something to do,” she said.

“And a lot of the time there are conversations to be had and decisions to be made beyond the standard work day.”

The couple said their favourite items at the bakery are the jelly slice, vanilla slice, steak, cheese and bacon pie and the meat and vegetable pastie.

Beachside Bakehouse is opened Monday to Saturday 6am to 3.30pm and Sunday 7am to 3pm.

HEATHCOTE

Heathcote's Gaffney's Bakery and Pie Kitchen was voted as the best bakery in Regional Victoria by Herald Sun readers in 2021. Picture: Supplied

For Victorians taking a great family road trip. Heathcote’s Gaffney‘s Bakery and Pie Kitchen is a must visit.

The family-owned bakery has been serving fresh pies, pastry delicacies and rich tarts to hungry travellers going from Melbourne to Echuca for over 25 years.

Owner Dave Gaffney said the bakery was the perfect halfway spot between the Murray River region and Melbourne.

“It’s an ideal spot for people to stop and stretch their legs,” Mr Gaffney said.

Mr Gaffney said when his parents opened the store in 1996 much of its early success was because of “a fantastic region and a great location”.

But the pies and friendly atmosphere spoke for themselves and now the kids of the 90s were returning to the Heathcote bakery to recreate those memories with their own children.

“We’ve had a couple generations coming through,” Mr Gaffney said.

“As a kid when you think of the great memories one is food and smell, and the other is the great holidays.

“They want to give that to their kids.”

Mr Gaffney said the pandemic had inspired a renaissance in Victorian regional tourism, with an influx of Melburnians escaping the city to explore their own backyard.

He said Easter Monday was the busiest day in the bakery’s 26 years in business, with 3280 pies sold and 900 cups of coffee served in one day.

Mr Gaffney said the secret to their perfect pies was simple – passionate bakers and quality locally-sourced ingredients.

“People do travel far and wide for our pies,” he said.

“They’re going out the doors as quickly as we’re making them.”

Mr Gaffney said COVID had pushed the store to provide vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options to meet the growing demand from health conscious customers.

“And since COVID people are more interested in sourdoughs and speciality breads,” he said.

“People want bread they have more faith in.

“If you buy your bread from a bakery you’re getting real bread.”

Mr Gaffney said his family’s signature pies and pastry delicacies could also be found in their Seymour bakery.

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