Anna Polyviou: This Is Us bakery opening at Cherrybrook Village shopping centre

After starting her apprenticeship in Melbourne, Anna Polyviou decided to cross over to the “dark side” and become a pastry chef. Now she’s working with sustainable baked goods brand, This Is Us, to open its Sydney first bakery.

Anna Polyviou never though she would become a pastry chef — she fell into it by accident when she entered a competition.

This competition was for apprentice chefs at Sofitel Melbourne — a five-star Melbourne hotel renowned as a training ground for some of Melbourne’s most famed chefs, including George Calombaris and Scott Pickett.

Speaking to NewsLocal, Polyviou explained just how rigorous this training was.

Every Saturday, for the competition, the apprentice chefs would do a full run through in the early hours of the morning. They’d stop at midday and go straight into straight into service when the competition was finished.

At the end of each Saturday morning session, the apprentice chefs would be judged on the entree, main course and dessert they served up to a team of fully-qualified chefs.

Pastry chef Anna Polyviou. Picture: Toby Zerna

“I was a kitchen chef and then I went to the dark side of pastry … (because that) competition forced me to learn as much as I could,” Polyviou said.

“I came to love how beautiful pastries and desserts can look … but also having that last impression in someone’s mind is really important for me, making sure an experience for someone is very special — it’s always been about that.”

Anna Polyviou at work. Picture: Tim Thatcher

It was another serendipitous occasion which led Polyviou to This Is Us. She met This Is Us’ business owner, Sam Moussa, by chance, at the gym.

“My background is in sales, I’ve worked in sales for pretty much most of my life,” Mr Moussa said.

“But during Covid, like most people, I was sitting at home … (and) I couldn’t do much work. So when the opportunity came up for us to start this business, I jumped right in,” he said.

After running a successful line of baked goods in stores such as Harris Farm, they knew it was only a matter of time until they chose the location for This Is Us’ first brick and mortar store.

This Is Us’ first brick and mortar store is in Cherrybrook.

Both Polyviou and Mr Moussa said Cherrybrook felt like the perfect place for them.

“It’s a cool area,” Polyviou said. “It’s just different and it’s exciting. (The shop) is a small space but we want to pump delicious things out of it.”

Sweet treats, savoury bites and sourdough crumpets and muffins are just some of the food available at This Is Us.

Anna Polyviou’s favourite chocolate cake.

Each product is created with sustainable and preservative free ingredients.

“There’s a lot more labour involved in creating our products,” Mr Moussa said.

“It’s very hands on but everyone these days is better educated about food and people are willing to spend that little bit extra for a premium product.”

Asked what she recommends on the menu, Polyviou immediately pointed to the chocolate cake, with chocolate crema and whipped caramel chocolate.

This Is Us’ bakery, which will be open daily from Monday to Friday, is located at Cherrybrook Village shopping centre. It will open its doors to customers this Saturday, May 21.