People took up all sorts of hobbies during Covid. From sourdough starters to crochet, when the world slowed down, people found they finally had time to dive into the things they’d been wanting to do but had been putting off.
“[Shadow Baking] was born out of Covid. Flo [Fritsch], Remi [Talbot] and I had always talked about starting a bakery. During Covid, I guess we had more time to experiment,” Tom Mitchell tells Broadsheet. “We did some baking, and everyone at Messina loved it. We started a market stall and it grew from that. [We opened Darlinghurst in October 2023] … it was something we’ve always wanted to do, but we finally got a push to do it.”
The push that brought Shadow to Adelaide began with a whirlwind holiday romance.
“Remi went for a holiday with his wife, and they loved it,” Mitchell says. “He just kind of fell in love with the city [and] decided very quickly he was going to move there. Remi is an amazing chef. We want to keep him in the fold, so we thought the best thing to do would be to open a bakery in Adelaide.”
That’s exactly what they did, and Shadow Baking opened in Glenelg over the weekend.
Building the store from scratch has allowed the trio to create a shop they think is the best yet.
“It’s much bigger and much nicer [than our other stores],” says Mitchell. “It has a beautiful concrete display. We’ve kind of gone for the industrial kitchen theme, so it feels like you’re stepping into the kitchen [rather than] a boutique pastry shop.”
There are seats for people who want to enjoy treats and coffee in-store – a departure from Shadow’s Sydney stores, which predominantly operate on a takeaway model. “It’s kind of like we’re growing up,” says Mitchell.
The menu will echo the Sydney stores with pastries and fresh loaves of focaccia. Mitchell flags a “pandan brioche that we’re proud of. We cold press, so there’s a vibrant green colour, and cook it out so it’s a nice, fresh-tasting pastry. And there’s a custard tart danish we’re kind of known for. It’s a big slab of Hey La La vanilla custard inside our croissant dough.”
A second store is coming later this year. “[It’s] come through sheer luck; it’s not something we’ve gone looking for straightaway,” says Mitchell. But when a space adjoining Messina’s soon-to-open North Adelaide store became available, the team thought it was too good to pass up.
With one store now open and one more to come, the Shadow team is well and truly stepping into the light.
Shadow Baking
8/1 Colley Terrace, Glenelg
No phone
Hours:
Wed to Sun 8am–2pm
