The hotly anticipated Lune Croissanterie has arrived in Sydney! Lune are known for their picture perfect croissants and monthly specials that encourage people to keep coming back. Come along as we visit the new Rosebery store to see what the pastries are like. Find out what to order and what the monthly specials are like!
Lune started its life in 2012 as a micro bakery by Kate Reid. Her path to pastry came via the sports world. After earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering, she pursued her lifelong passion for Formula 1 racing joining the Williams F1 team in the UK as an aerodynamicist in the mid-2000s. In 2008 she changed her direction returning to Melbourne and set her sights on pastry where she has her team in the climate controlled "The Cube" turn out picture-perfect pastry specimens.
Lune has a cult following and up until recently visitors to Melbourne often found themselves at the airport schlepping the distinctive Lune boxes back home on flights (myself included). But Sydney now has two Lunes: one in the CBD on Castlereagh street and one in Rosebery on Mentmore Avenue. The city one is closed on weekends while Rosebery is open 7 days and parking is easy in Rosebery.
Ever since a hanger induced incident a couple of months ago, I vowed never to go out for brunch on a Saturday in Sydney without a reservation. Any time after 10:30am is a game of musical chairs in Sydney as every popular brunch spot is busy with queues.
That's why when Monica, Shae and I meet at Lune it's 10am on the Saturday just before Christmas where there's barely a queue. And come 10:30am there will be a line out the door but honestly it isn't even that bad, the lines are definitely longer in Melbourne. It also doesn't hurt that Sydney has so many vinoisseries making really creative and interesting pastries.
Service is very friendly and there's a QR code with the menu as well as a display of the pastries. Monica has been waiting for a bit already so she has reserved counter seats so when we get to the front of the queue we see the line up of 13 pastries and I order all but the plain croissant and the pain au chocolat.
Of the ones that I bought there are 3 savoury and the remaining 8 are sweet. We take a seat at the counter and try the pastries while watching the chefs in the glass cube making pastries. "This looks like The Menu," says Monica watching them move precisely. The aroma reminds me of churros with its cinnamon sugar scent.
We start with the savouries and the ham and gruyere with seeded mustard is perfect. It doesn't need anything else added to it. Normally I like my pastries warmed up but these are fresh enough to enjoy as is. I would definitely order this one again.
I really wanted to visit Lune in December as I liked the sound of the December specials. They have one savoury special: The Stuffed Turkey. It's like a sausage roll filled with turkey and croissant pastry stuffing with sage powder, cranberry sauce, crispy chicken skin and fried sage leaves. It's every bit as good as it sounds - if you love the stuffing in a Woolies chicken and sausage rolls then you will love this. I took the remainder home and heated it up and then topped it with turkey stuffing chips and it was HEAVENLY.
I'm not even a huge fan of Vegemite but the Cheese and Vegemite Escargot is very good. They've made the Vegemite into a bechamel which tempers it without masking the distinctive flavour. It's shaped into a snail escargot spiral pastry with gruyere cheese.
The Kouign Amann is laminated with sugar and baked in a mould lined with butter, sugar and salt and caramelised. My favourite part of a Kouign Amann is the sticky caramel butter at the base of the pastry but since this is a spiral you don't get that gooey pool of caramel. Still, it is crisp and sweet and I remember trying the Kouign Amann in the Melbourne store and finding the same thing.
The morning bun is shaped like a cinnamon scroll in a muffin shape with brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest and then rolled in the spiced sugar. I really like the addition of the orange zest that lifts this nicely. I think this would be delicious warmed up at home.
The Christmas pudding is another December special. It's a croissant filled with brandy caramel and muscovado brandy soaked fruit cake. On the outside is a caramel glaze, a squeeze of brandy creme patissiere, candied orange peel and nutmeg. It's nice although I think some of the other pastries are better and I preferred the other December specials like the Eggnog Cruffin and The Stuffed Turkey.
The other December special that is my favourite is the eggnog cruffin. It's a cruffin filled with rum syrup and eggnog custard. On top is sweetened meringue cream and icing sugar, nutmeg and a chocolate quill. This is pure Christmas vibes and if you love rum flavours or rum and raisin (which I seriously do), this is your pastry.
The lemon curd cruffin is filled with a dollop of lemon curd with citrus sugar and candied lemon zest. The cruffin texture is spongey, airy and soft and I enjoy this pastry a lot.
At this point we are three quarters of the way through the pastries. The almond pastry is a very striking looking pastry filled with almond frangipane and flaked almonds that sit vertically on top. I think this would benefit from a bit of heating up (which is the exact same though I had when I had it in Melbourne) and it is nice but the other more creative or seasonal flavours really stood out more.
The chocolate peppermint croissant is also a December special with a pain au chocolat twice baked with chocolate fragnipane and a peppermint patty with dark chocolate crumb, melted chocolate and crushed candy cane. This is for anyone who really loves the choc mint combination.
The gingerbread croissant is a December special and is twice baked and filled with pecan frangipane, baked gingerbread and molasses caramel. On top is more frangipane and chunks of gingerbread and white icing drizzle and gold dusted chocolate pearls. This is a substantial chunky croissant, almost a meal in itself but as a gingerbread fan I really enjoy the flavours.
Afterwards we shake off the crumbs (a substantial amount) on our clothing and take the remainders home!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Lune's pastries and what did you think of them? Which pastry do you like the sound of the best?
Lune Croissanterie
Entry via Mentmore Ave, 115/151 Dunning Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018
Monday to Friday 7:30am-3pm
Weekends 8am-3pm
https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/rosebery/
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