12/10/2026
10 years of Dark Crust Magic
A decade ago, we opened our first bakery in Elsternwick. With Mike baking the signature dark crust bread and Mia serving customers, the bakery “where the bread is sold hot” quickly captured the hearts of the community with lines out the door.
Since then, every moment was dedicated to building Baker Bleu.
Mia and Mike expand the team in Elsternwick with more bakers and front of house to keep up with the demand.
Wholesale begins to some of Melbournes best restaurants, including our very first customer Cutler
Busier by the day, our bread range expands and plans for a bigger bakery start to take shape.
A big one for Baker Bleu.
The bakery relocates and opens on Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield North. We introduce sourdough pastry and Mike wins the Melbourne Food & W**e Trailblazer Award.
The doors stay open during the lockdown, a pivotal time where we really understood the importance of building community.
We open our second bakery with a dedicated pastry kitchen in Hawksburn Village, Prahran.
We cross the border. Baker Bleu Double Bay opens in Sydney, with a strong focus on coffee and food.
A year for the big picture. We start pouring Market Lane Coffee | B Corp coffee at Caulfield North, with an outdoor space to enjoy it.
Behind the scenes, plans for a larger production in Melbourne get underway.
‘Bake it till you make it’ by Baker Mike Russell is published with Murdoch books. A guide to baking sourdough at home with a few stories along the way of how Baker Bleu came to be.
We launch catering and Panettone makes it debut for Christmas.
Our flagship bakery opens in Cremorne with a smaller, park-side South Yarra location opening later in the year.
We host Richard Hart for a fun filled few weeks during the Melbourne Food & W**e festival.
Creative collabs to celebrate seasonal events, and our sixth location, a second Sydney bakery to open on Hall street, Bondi. Just in time for the summer.
Through all the growth, some things have stayed the same.
We’re still baking sourdough through the very early hours and still amazed that you keep coming back.
To everyone who has queued out the door, shared a loaf, made it part of your weekly ritual, o
