First Look: This Family-Run Bakery Was Transported From Sicily to Sydney in Shipping Containers

The bread bags at Delizioso, Smithfield’s new family-run bakery, read “Via Dei Quartieri 21/A, Palermo 90146”. This is the address for a corner spot on a leafy street in Sicily. This could be a cute nod to the Sicilian baked goods and coffee culture embedded in the western Sydney shopfront, but it’s actually the original intended address of Delizioso.

In 2021, after decades of running bakeries in Sydney, the Guaiana family moved to Palermo with aspirations of opening a shop in their family’s hometown. They had it all ready to go: the location, the fit-out, the baking equipment they’d hand-sourced from smaller Sicilian towns. But then plans changed and they all returned Down Under – quite literally bringing their “bakery” with them.

“All of this is from Italy,” co-owner Martina Guaiana tells Broadsheet. “So, it’s all an Italian set-up. Like, if you see that,” she says, pointing to the coffee corner, “that’s the bar. That’s where you drink coffee, you know, like an Italian. Quick espresso or something.”

Delizioso lives in a corner spot on Dublin Street in Smithfield, a neighbourhood eight kilometres south-west of Parramatta. Everything you see in the shop – the countertops, shelving, coffee machines and toasters, to the tables and chairs, plus multiple ovens, baking equipment and fridges out the back – was squeezed into three shipping containers then transported from Palermo. Admitting it was “a bit of a hassle”, the family got it all into their new digs with a forklift.

Those shelves are now loaded with quaresimali biscotti and just-baked ciabatta. The glass-walled display cabinet houses cherry-topped sweets and savoury Italian goods. Then there’s that classic Italian coffee bar.

But the fit-out isn’t the only thing the Guaianas returned from Italy with. They arrived in Sydney with a freshened-up collection of nonna- and nonno-approved recipes. Profiteroles, bignes, buccelato – all ready to add to their repertoire of Italian classics.

When you visit Dublin Street, be prepared to walk away with the following three things, at the very minimum: a loaf of ciabatta that’s crunchy on the outside but both soft and chewy within; cannoli, freshly piped to order; and a filled doughnut – whether that’s pistachio, jam, custard, Nutella or Kinder Bueno.

These golden, just-fried, cream-filled, cinnamon-dusted doughnuts at Delizioso set you back just $2.50. When Broadsheet visited, this Italo trio came to just $11.50 – which is as much as, or less than, what you’d pay for the loaf of bread alone at many bakeries around Sydney.

“We tried our best [to keep prices low] because we know it’s hard in this day and age,” Guaiana says. “We’ve got a lot of elderly people. We’ve got single mums coming in. We just want to make it affordable.”

Delizioso Bakery
1/66 Dublin Street, Smithfield

Hours:
Wed to Sat 6am–5pm
Sun 6am–4pm

@deliziosobakery