GOLD, gold, gold it’s another gold medal for Inverloch’s Paul the Pieman.
Fresh from the 35th Annual Great Australian Pie Competition, Chief Piemaker and Pastry Chef Mitchell Woods couldn’t be happier.
“We took gold in the beef pie category,” beamed Mitchell.
“Silver for Meat Pastries, BBQ brisket and JD (Jack Daniels), Seafood, Cauliflower and Chickpea, Smokey Beef, Jalapeno and Cheese, and Chunky Beef”
Paul the Pieman also collected bronze medals for his Creamy Mushroom Pie, Korean BBQ Pork (2023 gold medal winner), Chipotle Chicken, Lamb Ragu and the not-so-humble Paul the Pieman sausage roll.
Three Paul the Pieman apprentices Eliza Ireland, Nikita Cole and Terence Bailey won bronze medals for their delicious Pepper Pie (2023 gold medal winner).
Nikita and Terence achieved award success as first-year apprentices at Paul the Pieman’s Inverloch bakehouse.
“It’s a team effort by the whole production crew,” said Mitchell.
“It’s always good to win the big one” – the traditional Aussie beef pie.
Paul the Pieman scored fifty-plus points out of a possible fifty-five points for the beef pie.
Over the years Mitchell’s father Paul (the Pieman) Woods has won a string of awards.
“We always take away at least one gold,” explained Mitchell.
“Last year was our best year with five gold medals."
Paul the Pieman won two of the sub-categories last year for Best Pepper Pie and Best Pork Pie.
“America even took an interest.”
So far though, no ‘Paul the Pieman’ burger pie on American menus yet.
“There’s nothing plain about our plain meat pie,” boasts Mitchell.
“We source everything locally including beef from the butcher next door.”
Paul the Pieman make all their own pies and pastries at the dine-in Inverloch bakery.
“We serve over five hundred pies, pasties and sausage rolls a day this time of the year and that can double over summer,” said Mitchell.
All this from a production team of just seven, and sixteen front-of-house staff.
Congratulations to Inverloch’s Paul and Mitchell Woods and the talented ‘Paul the Pieman’ team.
