Red Beard Scotch Oven Sourdough Trentham

Faces behind the beard: Our bakers

John Reid

John has baked sourdough bread and worked with Scotch Ovens for 15 years.

John spent his formative baking years at Firebrand (Ripponlea) with Dave Brown. He honed his skills while managing Natural Tucker (North Carlton) and working at the New York Bagelry (Fitzroy). John created and managed Saint Chamas Sourdough Bakery in Melbourne for three years. He has also completed short stints at Irrewarra (Colac), Laurent (Como), Fruition (Healsville) and AG Bakehouse (Dandenong).

John helped to recommission the Port Arlington and Werribee Mansion Scotch Ovens in his capacity as a consultant to the National Trust. He also saved the now heritage-listed Abbotsford Convent Scotch Ovens.

John had a varied career - trying his hand at floristry, botanical illustration, teaching, editing, carpentry and sculpture - before discovering his passion for baking.

Alan Reid

Al learned everything he knows about baking from his brother John in a three year crash course.

Al has also had a varied career. He worked as a science communicator for nine years performing shows and designing exhibitions for Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne), Questacon (Canberra) and the Australian Museum (Sydney). With his wife he established the performing duo The Artful Scientists, which toured Australia and internationally.

In 2000, Al switched careers to Environmental Management, working as an Environmental Economist for the NSW EPA, then consulting to a Melbourne-based environmental NGO. He moved to Woodend in 2005 and founded Red Beard with his brother John.

Giorgio Basilio

With a French mother and Italian father, George brings an international flavour to Red Beard… and he has a red beard! For a big man he moves with speed and grace, no-one shapes dough faster and he’s pretty handy with a blade. George did his chef apprenticeship in Italy then worked in various top restaurants and hotels in Switzerland, France and England before meeting his Australian wife and moving Down Under in 1996.

Evan ‘Stretch’ Fleischer

We employed Stretch because at 190cm he’s the only one with arms long enough to retrieve bread from the back of our huge Scotch Oven. He also happened to have completed three years of an apprenticeship with a mainstream bakery, and wanted to learn how to make real bread for a change! He loves starting fires (such as in our Scotch Oven) so we’re a bit worried that he’s a member of the local CFA.

Freyja Tusek

Our newest school-based apprentice Frejya is a student at Daylesford Secondary College and has absorbed the whole art of sourdough baking like a sponge. But with a German mother and a Solvenian father a love of good food runs in the family.

Julian Blackhirst

Julian harks from idyllic Little Hampton where he grows gorgeous organic vegies and free range eggs. Julian regularly gets us out of a jam on busy Friday night baking shifts.