Wildflour Matilda Bakery

The Verdict

Right in the middle of Prahran's St Edmonds Street sits Wildflour Matilda Bakery. The unassuming garage door that’s been taken to by nighttime vandals reveals a deep and delicious hole in the wall bakery and cafe.

Matilda Rexton and her partner Keith, both British natives, met in Melbourne working as chefs in various kitchens and catering companies across the city. Matilda, as well as being a chef, was previously working as an animator and cake decorating on the side, she quickly realised that her passion laid in food.

"COVID like it did to a lot of people, gave me a kick up the ass to re-evaluate life and take it seriously,” said Matilda.

The idea started as a space to decorate cakes, then morphed into a modern British tea shop when Matilda’s partner Keith came on board, the pair then set out to bring quality English-style baked goods and bread to the area. “Growing up in the UK and being from a country village, we wanted to bring the homeliness of the local bakery, we’ve got a bit of homage to home in a couple of nostalgic comforts such as puddings and pies,” said Matilda. 

When comes down to specialties, there’s plenty of delicious pastries, rolls, and cakes to choose from but speaking with Matilda, the baker said the cream cheese pastry quiche has been the real star, “It’s an old classic but quiche has been the winner, we get people coming in saying they came in especially for the quiche,” said Matilda.

As well as top-notch sourdough and fruit loaves the apple and cinnamon rolls are another crowd favourite, each weekend they get a little extra naughty with a royal lashing of chocolate and very a British-style homemade orange marmalade. Keith’s pork pies have also started to draw some serious attention amongst flakey pastry enthusiasts, previously only available as family size Wildflour is now churning out smaller ones that can be tackled on the go. 

Although a traditional bakery there’s an eye for sustainability at Wildflour, their I Am Not Paper coffee cups are plant-based and 100% compostable, and they also work closely with OzHavest to ensure that all leftover food goes to support food-insecure communities. Matilda and Keith were both heavily inspired by the work of OzHarvest and when they’re closed their kitchen space is often used by OzHarvest to conduct food waste cooking classes.

Image credit: supplied