From Vietnam to Brisbane: Leon Ly embraces Australia to become award-winning baker

Queensland Baking Show 2023:  Yamanto Central Patisserie wins first prize for bread - four awards overall

• First:  680gm White Hi-Top Half Married (2 piece)
• Second:  680gm White Loaf Condensed Square (4 piece)
• Second: 680gm Grain Loaf Condensed Square (4 piece) 
• Second:  2 Sausage Rolls

Leon Ly, founder, owner and chief baker, of Yamanto Central Patisserie, has taken out four awards at the Queensland Baking Show 2023 including the top gong for the best white hi-top half loaf. 

The awards place Yamanto Central Patisserie in the top tier of bakeries in Queensland and home to the state's best tasting top white hi-top load of bread. 

For Leon Ly, it is not only a wonderful accolade, it is testimony to this family's plight to find safety, happiness and a future for themselves in Australia. 

When Leon Ly arrived in Brisbane from Vietnam in 1998 at the age of 16 with his family, he looked forward to starting a new life and connecting with this great grandmother. His grandmother fled war-savaged Vietnam arriving in Australia in 1981.

Leon had always had an interest in food and baking and this led him to start up his own bakery businesses. He was even mentored by the founder of Ray's Patisserie and fell in love with the idea of having his own venture. 

Today, Leon Ly owns several bakeries including Yamanto Central Patisserie, which opened in the Yamanto Central Shopping Centre in Ipswich in 2021. The patisserie sits at the front left of the entrance to the shopping centre holding pride of place as the first food outlet as shoppers enter the centre. 

"I am very proud to win these wonderful awards. I work 14 hours a day six days a week baking, operating the business and constantly looking for new ideas and ways to create exciting new products for our customers," Leon Ly said. 

"Bread and pastries are such versatile and wonderful products. From sandwiches to morning tea treats, to afternoon delights to evening desserts, there is so much you can do with them to surprise and delight any palate.  

"Our awards demonstrate the quality of our wonderful products here at the Yamanto Central Patisserie and I hope that more people come to our centre to visit us to see what all the fuss is about."

Yamanto Central Shopping Centre owner, JMK Retail, general manager, Vicki Leavy said, "We are so honoured to have Yamanto Central Patisserie as part of our wonderful community here at Yamanto Central Shopping Centre and we are so proud of their recent awards.

"Leon's wonderful breads and pastry products are hard to walk past located on your left of the main entry to the centre as everything just looks so tempting.

"Yamanto Central Patisserie have been trading since day one of our 2021 opening and now the rest of the country knows thanks to the patisserie's awards at this year's Queensland Baking Show.

"There is so much on offer at Yamanto Central Shopping Centre. With our wonderful range of retailers to health and wellness facilities, to food and dining options, we truly are the heart of Ipswich shopping and lifestyle. There is plenty of free undercover parking and we are close to public transport.

"Yamanto Central Patisserie's Queensland Baking Show 2023 awards showcase the high quality of food and shopping experiences everyone can expect at Yamanto Central Shopping Centre and we look forward to welcoming everyone to our centre. We have only been open since 2021 but we are quickly becoming the leading community hub for shoppers across the region and we are very proud of this."

www.jmkretail.com.au