Popular Sydney export Black Star Pastryis going toe to toe with Melbourne’s homegrown bakeries, opening its third shop since 2019 and expanding its line of pastries.

Driver Lane will be the place where queues form for Black Star’s cult cakes, as well as a raft of new items that are being launched exclusively at the store when it opens on April 8.

A CBD-based Black Star may seem overdue, but general manager Danielle Laskovsky explains that COVID put their plans on ice.

“We have been wanting to do this since we took over the business in 2019,” she says, referring to the purchase by Jackalope Hotels owner Louis Li.

Visitors to Driver Lane will be among the first to try four new pastries that apply Black Star’s elaborate flourishes to viennoiserie.

“We’re proud of our croissants, but we’re not known for them because we’ve always been known for our cakes,” says Laskovsky.

There’s a hazelnut-ganache croissant sporting chocolate stripes in the pastry while another is topped with a cocktail umbrella, filled with caramelised pineapple and coconut cream and dubbed the Pina Colada.

Other debut items include a tea-cup shaped dessert with matcha flavours, and the shop’s lemon myrtle cake in lamington form, finished with white chocolate and finger lime.

The 1890 building, Melbourne’s former Money Order Post Office and Savings Bank, came with heritage overlays that mean pastel pinks and blues jive with the futuristic design that’s become Black Star’s signature.

Mirrored surfaces and stainless steel gleam under a large neon circular light fixture, while gold-trimmed archways and columns poke out above all the newness.

Coffee is by St Ali and there is merch available to buy at the store, too.

Open from April 8: Mon-Thu 8am-6pm, Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-6pm.

Shop 4, 8 Driver Lane, Melbourne, blackstarpastry.com