Penelope Is a Tiny Coogee Micro-Bakery With Big Cinnamon Scrolls

A bakery that has serviced a neighbourhood with carbs for 30 years is cemented into the community. We all need our bread, right? When couple Tina and Steven Piliotis bought Coogee Bakery, hidden inside the Woolies Metro arcade, they quickly met the locals – and heard what they wanted.

“When we were renovating, all the locals were coming past and saying, ‘Are you still going to have the burger buns? And the flat burger buns? And the bread rolls? Vegemite scrolls?’ Originally, I was like, ‘No, we’re not doing it,’” Tina says. “Then I caved because everyone just kept asking.”

Last month, Coogee Bakery became Penelope, a micro-bakery that manages to deliver a mega amount of baked goods. “I remember saying to my husband, ‘Ahhh, it’s supposed to be a European micro-bakery!’ Anyway, we morphed a little bit,” she says, laughing. “We’re Greek, so most of the things we’re introducing are Greek – cinnamon scrolls, spanakopita, freddo cappuccinos, frappes.”

Cinny scrolls are trending, and the ones here are mega – and baked fresh all day. Springy, light and sticky, they were developed by baker Chris Staffolani. “The secret is that he lets it rise over a five-hour period,” Tina says. “And probably a lot of butter.”

Penelope makes 17 trays, a dozen on each, every day – and they can be gone by as early as 10.30am. “He pretty much just makes scrolls all day, from morning to night,” Tina says. “I mean, he makes a few other things that people love – the strawberry or pistachio cakes. But he doesn’t have time to do anything more.”

Get the jumbo swirls “with no make-up on” for the full cinnamon experience, or try the ones with just the right amount of cream-cheese frosting. There are specials, too, with a rotating spread of flavours like pistachio, Biscoff, Ferrero, Bueno and more.

Penelope is also carrying the wholesale-burger-bun baton that Coogee Bakery passed it. Thousands of rolls head out each morning, powering top burger joint Out of the Blue and eateries up and down Coogee Bay Road, as well as weekend barbeques for the local nippers. The driving force behind the wholesale operation is Adam (who prefers to go by his first name only). He starts at midnight daily and has remained steady over three decades – and multiple owners.

Paninis arrive on schiacciata that’s been cold fermented for 72 hours. The team references Athens’s 72H bakery and LA’s Mami’s for their no-yeast bread recipe. “It’s pretty much just organic flour [and] water,” Tina says. “You just let it rise, cold ferment, for 72 hours. It gives it more texture, makes it more fluffy.”

Beans are Steven’s domain. He’s been finessing the blend for seven years, roasting in Woollahra especially for Penelope then delivering it to the shop. Lattes, caps and flatties are on a double-ristretto base – “how all coffees should be served” – and the menu gets funky with a range of frothy, cream-topped icy coffees and matcha.

“It’s been a lot of the older crowd just wanting the $1 buns, the old-school vanilla slice – they’re still coming through for the bread. But we’ve brought a lot of young people to that space.”

While the bakery may be tiny, nothing about the carby operation at Penelope is micro.

Penelope
180 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee

Hours:
Daily 7am–4pm 

@penelope_bakeryandroastery
penelopebakery.com.au