[Travelogue] Melbourne: Day 4 (1/3) | Lune Croissanterie: Australia's Best Croissant? | sillyandordinarygirl
By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - April 08, 2019
A bit of French to start the post, as we're going to indulge ourselves in the heaven of croissants!
*yeeaaaaaayyy* Are you with me? Are you ready? Haha
So, so, before we get started, I'm gonna share a bit of the back story. So, bear with me first, okay? XD
As I mentioned several times before, Diana was the one who made the whole Melbourne itinerary, (in which she did very good job btw, fitting everything into our 5 days short trip, I'm super proud of her). When she's almost done, she showed it to me and asked for my opinion, I said "all good, but can I add only one thing?" *with puppy eyes sticker (since we're chatting through Line)*,"can we please squeeze Lune Croissanterie into the list?" I knew she had put so much effort in arranging the itinerary, and I knew it won't be easy to find any slot to fit it in, but but but, she said "yes" not so long after, and I felt I could hug her right away.
And you know what, I'm really glad I made the request.
We first checked out from our hotel early in the morning, and we checked in at the second hotel on the Flinders Ln, this time at the CBD area, before heading to Lune. So, when we got there, it was almost lunch time, around 10-11 a.m. and the croissanterie was already packed with crowds. It wasn't even weekend, but the queue was real. Not only locals, but also tourists, came to have a taste of the so-called "Australia's best croissant", which some even said, "one of the best in the world" too.
The Lune itself is located in a brick warehouse in Fitzroy with the glass room in the middle, named "The Cube". All productions are made in the Cube, where they maintain the perfect room temperature to bake the best croissants. There are two stone slabs, one serving as display and cashier, while the other one serves coffee, water and cutleries for dine-in.
This was my first time seeing a cake/bread display without any glass separating us, don't you think it makes all the croissants look even more tempting this way? :d
As it was quite crowded, when we first got in, there were barely any seats for us. But fortunately, not so long after we made the purchase, there's a tiny corner that became available, and we directly secured it, as we surely didn't want to eat while standing.
Almond Croissant ($9.20) and Cruffin
(p.s.: I'm sorry I forgot what the cruffin was, I remembered it being seasonal menu)
The Almond was soooooo good, it was mindblowing, the buttery flaky croissant getting along very well with the crunchy almond, I don't know how to better describe it, but it stole my heart in the first bite. As an avid fan of croissant, I raised four thumbs up for this one.
The Cruffin one had a very nice texture to it too, with the generous filling inside, but flavor-wise, it was a bit too sweet for us. Maybe we should try another cruffin the next time we go there. (Ha! I'm already thinking of going back, ckckckck)
While we were in the middle of savoring our pastries, an elderly couple found their seats beside us. They were Asian, one from Malaysia and the other one is from UK, they both moved to Melbourne and have been enjoying their lives there. They told us that it was their third time coming to Lune and they were shocked to see the crowd. The first two times, they came early in the morning at around 8, and they didn't have to queue.
So, there you go, the tips to beat the crowd and the queue: Come Early!
The man also told us that the founder of the croissanterie was a former Formula-1 engineer, so when she got her hand into baking, she always makes sure everything is done in precision. WOW.
So here I am, writing this post, while also doing some research about Lune's founder, Kate Reid, who used to be a F1 aerodynamicist. She studied engineering for five years, moved to UK to work for F1, but when she realized the job wasn't for her, she got depressed and fell into anorexia. She returned to Melbourne in May 2008, started a new baking job in a bakery in Melbourne, for the love of baking, but had to quit also as the long working hour was too much for her body. Then, she got a new chance working as a baker for a little local cafe, that only required her to work for four hours every morning, and here's where she regained a little bit of hope. One day, she happened to read a coffee table book and opened a double-page photo of a stack of pains au chocolat at a Parisian boulangerie, Du Pain et des Idées. She closed the book, went to a travel agent, and directly booked a ticket to Paris. She visited the boulangerie, and was eventually accepted to intern by the owner.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/t-magazine/food/lune-croissanterie-melbourne-croissants.html
Read more about her :
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/how-kate-reid-invented-the-worlds-best-croissant-through-reverse-engineering/news-story/22b124b72a372d768030032941852345
or
https://www.pressreader.com/australia/gourmet-traveller-australia/20180423/281676845492887
Also check out their cool website: https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/
Lune Croissanterie
119 Rose St, Fitzroy
Melbourne
CBD
Shop 16, 161 Collins Street
Melbourne
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