38,000 pastries a week: Lune croissanterie to open ‘world-class’ Sydney flagship in Rosebery
Two Sydney Lune locations will open by Christmas, including founder Kate Reid’s biggest bakery yet.
When Melbourne croissanterie Lune opens its flagship bakery at the Rosebery Engine Yards later this year it will be a “state-of-the-art, world-class experience”, founder Kate Reid says.
Construction delays at a planned site in Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, prompted Reid to move Sydney’s first Lune bakery to a renovated heritage warehouse on Dunning Street in Rosebery, where she anticipates they’ll be able to bake more than 38,000 pastries each week, far outstripping the capacity of its Melbourne and Brisbane counterparts.
“We committed to bring Lune to Sydney customers in 2024, and when it looked like that wouldn’t happen [at Darlinghurst], we had to be proactive and take matters into our own hands,” Reid says.
The opening is hotly anticipated in Sydney, where fans of Reid’s croissants queued for upwards of three hours at its pop-up store for World Chocolate Day at the Queen Victoria Building last July.
For many, it was their first opportunity to taste a Lune croissant, which have been dubbed the “world’s best” by The New York Times.
“It showed us how much love there was for us in Sydney,” Reid says. “We anticipate the [market there] has the opportunity to be one of our biggest − so much so, we’re building the kitchen from scratch to ensure we meet demand.”
Pending council approval, construction is set to begin shortly, with the view to opening before Christmas. The Sydney flagship is set to open at the same time as a second satellite shop at Metro Martin Place.
Reid says the new site features a familiar industrial charm, serendipitously similar to Lune’s Fitzroy outpost. Each warehouse at Rosebery Engine Yards is heritage-listed for its local significance, from the former Commonwealth Weaving Mills to the former Westinghouse factory.
But the Sydney Lune headquarters will offer fans something different.
“It’s never going to be a copy-and-paste situation,” Reid says.
While the quality and availability of freshly baked croissants remain paramount, the Rosebery store will have dine-in capacity for “the full Lune experience”.
The ex-Formula 1 engineer hints at hidden “Easter eggs” throughout the new venue: little details that only the most fervent Lune fans are likely to discover.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am, not only for Sydney, but for the world to see it,” Reid says.
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Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food's Sydney-based reporter.