Pastry perfectionist Kate Reid has opened Moon, just 250 metres from her Lune Croissanterie in Rose Street, Fitzroy. The semi-permanent pop-up serves crullers – the love child of a canele and a doughnut made with choux pastry – in six flavours: cinnamon sugar with a touch of ground cardamom; vanilla glaze; cappuccino with chocolate pearls; dark chocolate; raspberry and passionfruit ($5.50 each).

Since opening on May 28, local customers have been spending their two hours of lockdown exercise lining up for calories and hot drinks from Coffee Supreme, Mork Chocolate and Wide Open Road Chai La Lai.

"I'm known in Melbourne for this elegant, sophisticated pastry – the croissant – and the cruller is the exact opposite," says Reid. "It's a super naughty New York street treat … there is nothing refined or elegant about it."

Reid first tried the deep-fried, twisted pastry in New York in 2017 after local restaurant critic and food writer Oliver Strand told her it was "life changing". After another New York trip was cancelled in 2020, Reid set about recreating her new crush.

Now, they're the inaugural offering at Moon, which is also the new head office and test kitchen for Reid and her business partners, brother Cameron Reid and Nathan Toleman (also behind Hazel, Dessous, Liminal cafe and Common Ground).

Together they designed Moon to resemble a New York apartment, with the cruller flavours displayed on hooks on marble benchtops.

There's no set end date on crullers at Moon, which the team is using as a "business incubator", but they won't be there forever. The first interstate Lune Croissanterie is also set to open in South Brisbane's Fish Lane dining precinct in July.

Open Thu-Fri 7.30am-3pm and Sat-Sun 8am-3pm (or sold out) at 50 Rose Street, Fitzroy, mooncruller.com