Milawa Factory Gathering

Ken Hercott and Adam Rivett are the proud winners of the Artisan Baker Cup

Jay and Adam Rivett are responsible for one of the most ambitious artisan bakeries in Australia. It was appropriate that the ABA's first full day gathering was held at Milawa Factory, a bakery fluent in the art of traditional French baking.

Bakers turned up from all over the place. Several of Melbourne's most prominent bakers were there, including Tony Dench, Ken Hercott, and Antoine from Loafer. Home bakers were represented by serial ABA attendee, Matthew McKnight from Melbourne.

Brett Noy drove 1700km from Queensland, accompanied by his delightful son Mitchell, who helped photograph the day. Local bakers included Thomas and Gabi Moritz, and Paul Pizzolitto. Sheparton TAFE even let Stephen Pinnuck take the staff car to the event.

Some of the crowd at Milawa. Photo by Mitchell Noy

Those present but not mentioned will be credited in our film project, Sourdough Companion, due for release circa 2008 - 2009.

Major thanks to Jay and Adam, as well as Milawa bakers Rob Booth and Rob Sheperd, for being so damn generous with their time and techniques. It takes a lot of courage to open your bakery in good faith to a group of peers.

The venue was provided by David and Anne Brown, from Milawa Cheese Company. Thank You!

More photos and film bits coming soon...