On the Rise: Five New Melbourne Bakeries To Try

Melbourne’s best bakeries are on the rise. In the past few months some of our favourites have expanded with new sites, bringing their golden, flaky pies and sausage rolls, just-baked loaves of sourdough, and sweet treats to even more of you. If you kneaded more proof, A1 Bakery is set to open its third spot later this year. In the meantime, here are five new spots to sift through by five of the best.

Falco Bakery

Since opening on Smith Street in 2019, Falco Bakery has become an integral part of the strip, with lines out the door most lunchtimes. But it’s not just the shopfront that’s been full; the team – led by head baker and co-owner Christine Tran – has long needed more back-of-house production space for their sought-after loaves, cheeseburger pies and cardamom buns. Enter venue number two, which opened on Langridge Street last month.

The warehouse-style space doubles their capacity, allowing Tran and her team to introduce some new menu items (hello, bagel sandwiches) and bring back old favourites (including the return of the kouign-amann). There are also loaves to take home (including a toasted sesame boule, an oat porridge loaf, a country loaf and a whole wheat one); golden, glistening pies and sausage rolls; and those god-tier chicken and egg salad sandwiches. To drink, there’s espresso or filter coffee made with Falco’s house blend, best paired with a seasonal fig danish or crowd-favourite peanut-butter-and-miso cookie.

Penny for Pound

Pastry chef Matilda Smith and partner Ben Wilson supplied croissants and bread to a steady stream of Richmond locals for four years, before getting the news just before Christmas that they’d have to move out. Now they’re back in a new location – on Bridge Road – just around the corner from the original Richmond spot behind Mayday. “It feels like coming home,” Smith told Broadsheet in March. Not only is the new venue bigger, but the pair have expanded the menu.

In addition to seven types of sourdough and Smith’s croissants and glistening danishes, they now have an espresso machine, plus toasted sandwiches; pork, fennel and apple sausage rolls; and boeuf bourguignon pies (along with a vegetarian counterpart featuring chipotle, beans and Monterey Jack cheese). Plain croissants are baked four times a day, so if you time it right, you can have one warm from the oven. For something a little more decadent, opt for a twice-baked red velvet croissant, a marzipan-glazed pecan croissant or a passionfruit and cacao nib doughnut.

All Are Welcome

Since opening on Northcote’s High Street in 2017, All Are Welcome has garnered a loyal local following. So much so that it opened a couple of kilometres up the road – on High Street in Thornbury – in mid-2020. In 2021, owner Boris Portnoy also opened wine bar Gray and Gray – in the longstanding former lawyer’s office next to his original Northcote bakery. Now All Are Welcome has hit the trifecta with a third location in Ivanhoe East.

“We are a neighbourhood bakery, and [East] Ivanhoe Village really has that rare feel of a neighbourhood,” Portnoy told Broadsheet about the decision to head further into the north-east. “It’s also very close to Northcote and Thornbury, so making a third kitchen to do some specialty items and move things between all three will work well for us.” Unsurprisingly, the new store has become a fast fave with its organic sourdough loaves, hulking sausage rolls, and rotating selection of classic and lesser-known pastries (sprawled out over a curvy stainless-steel countertop, which you can perch on the other side of).

Black Star Pastry

After opening outlets in St Kilda and Chadstone, the wildly popular Sydney bakery has opened its most central location yet – in the city’s former Money Order Office on Driver Lane. The new shopfront merges the bakery’s signature futuristic aesthetic with the history of the heritage-listed grey stone building. Walk through the doors to find minimalist white walls, a stainless-steel island and a halo light installation hanging above. Custom display fridges are stocked with picture-perfect cakes to enjoy in the alcove seating area.

Yes, the mega-famous strawberry-watermelon cake (among other favourites) is here. But there’s also three new croissant flavours: rose and pistachio dipped in strawberry chocolate and sprinkled with rose petals; chocolate and hazelnut finished with ganache and chocolate stars; and pina colada filled with creamy coconut and topped with sweet pineapple and a cocktail umbrella. For those with less of a sweet tooth, there’s an umami brioche made with shiitake and champignon mushrooms in a miso bechamel sauce and a Japanese chicken pie.

Wonder Pies

Since their Bulleen factory was compulsorily acquired for redevelopment, chef Raymond Capaldi and his partner Jodi Crocker’s Wonder Pies brand has migrated to a lofty new site in Coburg North, within emerging hospitality hub, The Newlands Quarter. Here, the production process is exposed through a large viewing window, letting customers see the pie-making first-hand. You’ll find around 15 fresh options at any given time – from classic braised beef mince and gravy to a lasagne rendition filled with sheets of pasta, Wagyu mince and bechamel.

There are also sausage rolls, pasties and a toastie range, plus a cabinet of sweets like Golden Gaytime doughnuts and salted caramel apple pies. Taking advantage of the extra-high ceilings, the building was renovated to include a custom mezzanine overlooking the production area that will be used for private dining experiences (allowing Capaldi to play around with dishes like duck à l’orange pithiviers with coffee sauce, or kangaroo tail pies with red wine jus).