By Callum Ludwig
The much-loved Gladysdale Bakehouse has been recognised for its tasty array of baked goods and treats, being announced as a 2024 Reader’s Choice Award winner by the Australian Good Food Guide.
Co-owners Jason and Melanie Rush have owned and operated the bakery in Yarra Junction for nearly 17 years this year.
Mr Rush said it was a bit of a surprise.
“It’s not something that we go out chasing, we just do what we do from day to day but I think when you get something from someone like that who’s a pretty reputable organisation I would have thought, it’s good credit and recognition to the staff that come in and work their butts off every day,” he said.
“As much as we don’t go chasing those things, it’s always nice to receive them, it gives everyone in this day and age who are pretty flattened, pretty sombre out there at times, especially with the weather, it gave everyone a bit of a pump up.”
Mr and Mrs Rush took over the Gladysdale Bakehouse in the first week of November 2007, with many local staff working it before and since, including their own children.
Mr Rush said the place has just grown and grown in their time.
“We’ve gone through different eras, we did a bit of bread early on, then we canned that and we got our first chef in and ever since we’ve done that, started doing brekkies and turned ourselves into a bakery-cafe, it’s just gone from strength to strength, he said.
“We’ve turned the bakery into a destination for people, though we obviously appreciate all our local trade, but it’s definitely become a destination venue in the Yarra Valley is what we think.”
Gladysdale Bakehouse is one of 11 bakeries to be recognised in the Australian Good Food Guide’s 2024 awards.
Mr Rush said while awards are nice, to see a return customer who has come back through the door after a previous good experience is what he enjoys most.
“There’s no doubt that the Gladysdale pie has been known for 30 to 40 plus years so we just expanded upon that and now our brekky is quite popular, what we call our ‘ancy sanga’ menu is quite popular, we do good coffee and our cakes are good,” he said.
“One thing that we’ve done well over the journey is our product has been consistent, people know that they’re going to come and get a set and consistent product, not pretentious, not too complicated, just good tasty food,”
“The other big thing for us is value for money, we’ve focused on food turnover rather than increasing our prices and so on.”
Gladysdale Bakehouse isn’t the only bakery in the Upper Yarra to have received recent recognition, with the Wandin Bakery taking out awards for its sourdough and some pies in the Baking Association of Australia’s 2024 Australia’s Best Pie and Pastie Competition and National Artisan Baking Competition.
Mr Rush said it’s good to see a couple of the smaller businesses in the Yarra Valley getting some recognition.
“It’s awesome, we’re all for new business, we’re all for people continuing on, it’s just good for everyone when everyone’s thriving,” he said.
“We’re known as the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, and we have a little Warburton Highway up the centre and we miss out on a bit of the spotlight so businesses that get any recognition up our highway I think is fantastic whether it be from Wandin right up to Warburton.”
