Kojonup Bakery, Kojonup, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Just as progressive dining experiences like Wills Domain amd Foragers are recommended parts of a tour of the South West, the town bakeries of regional WA are a charming slice of classic Australiana that simply cannot be ignored. Many seem to make wild claims of award winning greatness, and there can be heated debate about which bakery really makes the best pies. While Alissa and I have not written about any of these bakeries before, we have visited a number of them during our many visits through the South West. As you'd expect, some are justifiably praised while others are somewhat overrated. We had the worst, most burnt coffee at one bakery during this trip, and on an earlier holiday we found another seemed very much caught up in its success to the point that they even told us that no photography was allowed, as if their menu was such a major trade secret! Considering they advertise all the pies that won them awards all over the outside of their premises, this secrecy seemed utterly laughable.

One bakery that I do really enjoy visiting is the Kojonup Bakery, a quiet achiever on the Kojonup main strip on Albany Hwy. The bakery is simple and honest looking, having none of the flash of some of the other bakeries in the Great Southern, however their Pies and Sausage Rolls speak for themselves.

La Panella Bakery, Preston, Victoria (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Local knowledge cannot be underestimated in the hunt for good food. Sure, picking up a copy of the Good Food Guide might help you find interesting places that even the average local may know nothing about, but there is a certain depth of knowledge that comes with actually living in a city; I know that my ability to find interesting middle-of-nowhere suburban gems in Perth is greatly enhanced by the fact I live there, and I have to resign myself to the fact that discoveries like a ex-Vue de Monde chef cooking at a Melbourne bowls club are the kind of surprise finds that a tourist is unlikely to just stumble upon.

When making arrangements to stay with our friends Jake and Tegan in the suburb of Preston, Jake informed me of a nearby bakery that we had to try. Prior to him becoming a vegan, I used to jokingly tease Jake's preference for burgers and junk food as being 'the rearguard of the culinary arts', in contrast to the avant-garde of Molecular Gastronomy. Its a term that has stuck - in spite of the Dude Food trend suggesting that he was perhaps just really ahead of the pack.
"It's a bit rearguard, but their vegan pies are very convincing... or at least we find them to be," Jake informed me over the phone.
Interested to see what local knowledge can uncover, I added La Panella to our schedule of places to visit. Located on Preston's High St, the tired and dated appearance of the bakery's facade comes complete with missing letters in the 'Hot [Br]ead' signage that adorns the wall. This place is vegan? Where's the green paint job that signifies healthiness and sustainability? Where's the hipster-pleasing industrial chic with the Edison-style light bulbs? It looks a lot like any old school no-frills run of the mill independent bakery, which makes the fact its food is largely vegan all the more remarkable.

Jaylea's Patisserie, Willagee, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Its amazing how quickly things can change. Towards the end of 2012 my department at work moved from our offices in O'Connor to Cockburn Central. While I was based in O'Connor, Alissa hipped me to a patisserie 5 minutes away in suburban Willagee that was famous for their award winning pies, with their signature being a very gourmet beef, blue cheese and porcini pie. Then called Jaylea's Patisserie and Lunch Bar, its shop front didn't exactly scream 'quality patisserie', yet tasting many of their pies it could not be denied that they were indeed very good at what they do. After moving to Cockburn Central Jaylea's was no longer a convenient lunchtime option, and it was a lazy public holiday weekend that eventually brought us back 15 months later.

We found that Jaylea's had had a significant rebrand, moving from its location in the middle of the Archibald St shops to the corner space that once housed a realty office. The ugly font and the 'Lunch Bar' designation were gone, replaced by a much hipper style more in keeping with the kind of image a classy yet accessible quality patisserie should project.

To the left of the shop is a lovely mural that makes a lot more sense next to the patisserie than next to a realty office.

The interior design of the space again follows a very contemporary style, with lovely brickwork along the walls, marble counters and the consistent use of their signage font.

When I was here last, I had an awesome cherry pie. We didn't see one this time, but their cake display was impressive nonetheless. The vivid colour of the macarons was very tempting indeed!

But of course I was here for the pie, and since they had the Beef, Blue Cheese and Porcini Pie available, I decided to forego non-beef eating to try it. 

The pie was as delicious as I remembered it - nice, chunky pieces of real beef mixed with the umami flavour of porcini make for an excellent, up-market spin on the usually tasteless mushrooms of a standard steak and mushroom pie. Best of all though is the generous injection of blue cheese, its stinky deliciousness providing even more flavour to the proceedings. I've had better pastry at other bakeries, but as a whole this is a truly impressive pie.

Alissa was not quite feeling the idea of a pie for breakfast, and went with a nice Ham, Cheese and Tomato  croissant in the display. The quality of the croissant was very good but was very much what you'd expect from this fairly standard filling combination - definitely not quite up there with the incredible croissants at Salon de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong. Still, Alissa was very satisfied with her breakfast.

With the cake display calling to Alissa, we decided to have a sweet treat each. Not wanting anything too huge and my favourite cherry pie not available, I went with the Chocolate Mousse Cake. I'm more of a fruit-based dessert fan, but this was a good chocolate mousse cake - smooth, airy and with a richness that ensured I was well and truly full by the end of it.

Having worked at a few cafes Alissa is something of a connoisseur of carrot cake, and on the drive home went over all the criteria for a good one. The cake has to be moist but dense, sweet but not sickeningly so, filled with a decent amount of nuts and carrot and topped with a good cream cheese icing. Jaylea's Carrot Cake ticked all the boxes, and left Alissa very satisfied.

The Verdict: Very Good
It's always great to see a local business doing well, and returning to find the new Jaylea's doing very well was a lovely surprise. While they are justifiably most famous for their posh pies, they're strong performers across the board - their carrot cake definitely impressed Alissa and I was happy with my chocolate mousse cake. Though it was not available this time the cherry pie they make is amazing - if you're going for a sweet dish please try it. Considering we got our breakfast for about $17, its very good value too. For northerners, I wouldn't suggest driving all the way just to eat here, but for those in the inner south Jaylea's are well worth it.