You Can Help This Young Melbourne Couple Crowdfund Their Dream of Opening a Neighbourhood Bakery

With all its evils, it’s easy to forget the legitimate life-changing power of social media.

In the past three weeks, it’s helped young Melbourne couple Tom Edwards and Betty Milner spread the word about the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for their dream neighbourhood bakery, named after their bright-eyed nine-month-old baby Iris, and planned for Brunswick.

At the time of writing, they’ve garnered just over $39,000 in pledges from 183 backers towards their $50,000 goal, ahead of the campaign ending at midnight this Sunday.

“It’s really all or nothing,” Milner tells Broadsheet.

The pair has a hold on a lease at the bottom of Milieu Property’s new One Wilson Ave apartment development. But signing on the dotted line is completely contingent on the Kickstarter’s success, with backers only charged if the (whole) goal is reached.

Putting themselves out there became a nerve-racking necessity. “Both of us are very private people,” Milner admits. “And you’re basically announcing to the world that you’re broke – and your idea is worth supporting.”

The initial pledge influx floored them, but then came the Christmas slump. “There were feelings of regret then,” says Milner. “Humiliating, terrifying – we’re very vulnerable”

Since then, though, the number has been steadily rising. “It’s pretty amazing how far-reaching promoting it on Instagram has been,” says Milner. “It’s 70 per cent people we know, 20 per cent friends of friends and 10 per cent absolutely random people.”

There’s extra incentive, too. If you pledge $20, you’ll get a sourdough loaf at opening; for $50, they’ll throw in a linen bread bag; $100 will get you access to Edwards’s sourdough starter (his “other child”); and there are more rewards on the Kickstarter page.

While it’s not the most rudimentary way to bankroll a bakery, with the lack of an “angel investor” and unable to wholly fund it themselves, Edwards and Milner are appealing to a community they soon hope to repay with stellar sourdough and pastries.

“We want the community that has supported us to have a sense of ownership over [it],” says Milner. “To feel like they helped make it happen, to feel like it’s theirs as well.”

Wholesomeness aside, the couple brings some serious hospitality chops to the table. Edwards did his apprenticeship at Teage Ezard’s now-closed eponymous fine diner in 2007 before going on to work under celebrated Victorian chef Dan Hunter in his time at Dunkeld’s Royal Mail Hotel and then at Hunter’s own Brae. Edwards was also the starting chef at Adelaide’s peerless Summertown Aristologist, after which he and Milner decided to move to Copenhagen in 2017. There, Edwards worked at the influential Restaurant Relae and the group’s bakery Mirabelle, both recently shuttered, while Milner worked at Lille Bakery and Apollo Bar.

Their shared professional (and personal) history will come together at Iris, with the couple promising recognisable bakery items done with fine-dining precision.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in high-end restaurants,” says Edwards, “and I got to the point where I wanted something a lot more humble, that’s for everyone and that’s community-based, rather than something that appeals to a small section of the population.”

He’s been nerding out on bread recently, using a technique he learned while working in Copenhagen. He cold-ferments dough en masse overnight – with a very low percentage of sourdough – then, with minimal shaping or manipulating, cuts and bakes it the next day. The result, he says, is hulking dark-crusted loaves, each with a super-soft crumb.

“We’ll 100 per cent be using flours where we can trace the identity of the grain and know it’s been milled fresh,” Edwards says. Most will be sourced from Tuerong Farm on the Mornington Peninsula, where he’s been working with less-common wheat varieties.

Another point of difference: Iris will bake around the clock, so you can take a fresh-out-the-oven loaf home for dinner. “None of this sold-out-at-midday business,” Milner says. Also, Edwards adds, “With savoury [items] like pizzette and tartines, to be constantly proving and baking throughout the day, the difference to us is like night and day.”

Beyond the day-to-day, the plan is also to host pop-up dinners and events to support the hospo industry. And there’s room to evolve, whether by serving wine and snacks in the arvo, entering the wholesale arena, or getting a piece of land to grow fruit and veg.

Pledge a donation online before the Kickstarter campaign ends at midnight this Sunday. Your card will only be charged if the $50,000 goal is reached, in which case Iris will open at 1 Wilson Avenue, Brunswick midyear.

@iristhebakery