Popular pastry business opens up restaurant

By day, it’s bread and pastry paradise with queues out the door. Now this popular bakery is serving up dinner with a twist.

Doughcraft in Brisbane CBD has added a restaurant component, offering “a complete European experience”.

By day Doughcraft in Brisbane’s CBD is a bread and pastry paradise.

Using traditional French techniques but with an Italian twist, it attracts city workers with queues out the door for its much-loved croissants, tarts, paninis and pain Suisse.

But at the beginning of the year when it first took over the sprawling tenancy on Mary St previously home to Leonard’s Bar & Bistro and, prior to that, the mighty restaurant duo of The Euro and Urbane, it appeared a rather odd choice.

You see, for a bakery, the space seemed enormous.

Far too large to ever make a profit from simply selling the likes of sandwiches and sweet and savoury pastries. But that’s because owners Salvatore Compagnone, Steven Chevalier and Simone Presta had a plan.

The dining room at Doughcraft in Brisbane CBD.

The trio chose the multifaceted site, which also includes a basement private dining room, for its larger kitchen so they could increase their range of products and grow the business, with a second store in Brisbane’s Albion to supply.

But the real vision was to add a restaurant component to the Mary St offering, making the space a bakery by morning, cafe and deli by day, and dining destination by night.

At the end of last month, they realised that vision, opening Doughcraft for the evenings, serving a fusion of French and Italian to deliver guests what they’re calling “a complete European experience”.

Pinsa pizza at Doughcraft in Brisbane CBD.

The result is a broad and appealing menu that leans heavily into their baking prowess, with entrees like bruschetta, baby octopus, and burrata with grilled veg all including their coveted bread; while there are pastas such as classic carbonara and squid ink ravioli filled with creamed cod to show another skill with dough; plus their signature pinsas – an ancient Roman dish similar to pizza – topped with everything from cured salmon and rocket to mushrooms and Italian sausage.

Diners fill the dimly lit dining space with its dark wallpaper brightened by the framed works of local artists, choosing to sit along a terracotta-hued banquette or on traditional timber chairs tucked into solid wooden tables. The space feels warm and European, helped by the Italian-accented staff who are constantly checking in, eager to ensure we’re enjoying our dinner.

Our meal kicks off with an entree of that baby octopus ($22.90), with the tender seafood hidden in a thick tomato sauce infused with the flavour of black olives. While there could be a few more octopi, it’s a tasty starter scooped on to the accompanying chargrilled bread.

Fettuccine brisket ragu ($30.90), on the other hand, is an enormous portion of al dente pasta twirled around hefty chunks of pulled beef in a tomato and red wine sauce amped up with umami from porcini mushrooms and a heavy dusting of parmesan. It’s just the type of dish you could happily tuck into solo after a hard day’s work along with a glass of Tuscan Sangiovese from the well-matched, predominantly Italian wine list.

Ragu at Doughcraft in Brisbane CBD.

Mains include a rump steak, fish of the day and our spatchcock ($36.90). Though the latter really needs a side of the broccolini or rocket salad to make it a meal, the solo, butterflied bird is expertly cooked with its skin crispy and rigorously seasoned, while its flesh remains tender and juicy. The obvious favourite on our visit with other diners, however, is the pinsa, with the rectangular pizza hitting almost every table around us. Our pick of the flavours is the Roma Mia ($28.90) with razor thin slices of fatty porchetta draped across the crispy-edged, fluffy centred, almost focaccia-like base. With melted creamy provola cheese and a romesco sauce drizzled on top, it’s easy to see why it’s popular.

We finish with a lush, almost syrupy tiramisu served tableside from a large baking dish that is seriously good. While Doughcraft has earned a reputation as one of Brisbane’s best bakeries, this bold expansion is sure to see it become a favourite casual dining spot.

delicious.com.au/eatout

Doughcraft

181 Mary St, Brisbane City

0478 819 993

doughcraftbne.com

Open

Mon 7am-2pm;
Tues-Fri 7am-2pm
and 5-10pm;
Sat 5-10pm

Must try

Pinsa

Verdict – Scores out of 5

Food 3.5

Service 3.5

Ambience 3.5

Value 3.5

Overall 3.5