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Sweet queen Jess Lemon is spinning childhood memories and family rituals into head-turning bakes at her first solo shop in the eastern suburbs. This is your first look.
Jess “Lemon” Liemantara might have been one of MasterChef’s youngest-ever contestants in 2018, but she still pulled off ambitious desserts and finished fourth on the show – no small feat for the then 19-year-old baker.
After two returns to the show – including the Dessert Masters spin-off in 2023, when her matcha moss-covered bonsai tree went viral – and a cookbook deal, the fan favourite is about to open her long-awaited solo venture in Nunawading in Melbourne’s east, far from the inner-city’s bakery hotspots.
Liemantara’s (nick)namesake bakery, Jess Lemon, was slated to open last year, but “it just kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed,” she says. So she kept busy selling cakes online and holding intimate baking workshops in the unfinished space.
From July 25, though, she’ll be serving customers and debuting six brand-new pastries made using sourdough starter. It’s a departure from her trademark petits gateaux: miniature cakes full of French technique.
“My mum’s been drilling into my head that not everyone’s going to buy mousse cakes every day,” Liemantara says with a laugh. “Obviously, what I was creating before was more of a gifting option, [so] I wanted to [do] something that was more of an everyday thing.”
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Liemantara spent three years at Ned’s Bake in South Yarra learning about laminated pastries, followed by a stint at Rustica Sourdough and, finally, working on her own creations.
“Everything that I create generally has a story behind it, and a lot of things revolve around my family,” Liemantara says.
Her hoisin pork floss danish marries two fond memories: Breadtop’s pork floss buns, delivered by Liemantara’s parents during her 18-hour work days; and after-school spring onion pancakes.
Topped generously with pork floss, the pastry is layered with hoisin sauce and sesame oil to mimic the Chinese pancake’s flavour. A mushroom danish, baked in a truffle-infused bechamel sauce, is the veg-friendly option.
On the sweeter side, a crookie (a croissant-cookie hybrid) showcases black sesame and peanut butter cookie dough, baked into golden croissant layers and finished with black sesame caramel. It’s inspired by shaved ice in the same flavour from Dessert Story, a Hong Kong-slash-Taiwanese dessert chain frequented by Liemantara’s family.
Six kinds of macaron nod to the item that sparked Liemantara’s baking obsession at age 13, while caramel popcorn is a throwback to her Esme days.
Classic and almond croissants have a place at Jess Lemon too, plus long cigar-shaped pains au chocolat filled with 48 per cent Belgian dark chocolate.
Whole chiffon cakes in flavours such as Black Forest will be up for pre-order. They’re a reminder of the nearly 400 chiffon cakes Liemantara baked with just two cake tins to chip away at the bakery’s debt until it could open.
The kitchen takes up three-quarters of the Nunawading shop, so expect to grab and go. Coffees are brewed from Mr Sally beans, and plans are under way for a drink inspired by gooey lava cake.
Opens Saturday, July 25 and then Thursday-Sunday, breakfast and lunch (closes at 2pm)
10 Market Street, Nunawading, jesslemon.com.au
The 100 Essential Cafes and Bakeries of Melbourne 2026 launches on Friday, July 24. The best way to experience the guide is the Good Food app, where you can search via a map or collections. Download it from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
The guide is published in the Good Food lift-outs in The Age on Friday, July 24, and Sunday, July 26, and the following week on Friday, July 31, and Sunday, August 2.
