We join the queue of bakery superfans outside Melbourne’s hottest new pastry spot

It’s the end of autumn, and golden crunchy leaves drift down the streets. Except if you’re in Melbourne’s inner north, where the rustle of bronzed shards below foot is the debris of pastries bought from one of the area’s countless artisan bakeries.

This is stretching the truth, but it could easily be the fairytale of the 2020s, a far-fetched image for next decade’s children of what it was like in these heady days of croissants fashioned into outlandish shapes, folds of buttery pastry hiding tropical fruit or beef brisket. Mother Hubbard and her cupboard, goodbye. Marble benches and bakery crawls, hello.

Bakeries and patisseries have opened at a clip all over Melbourne in the past five years, as people turn to more affordable versions of luxury. Outpacing any area is the city’s north, especially the suburbs fringing the city.

The second-latest northside opening is Daybaker, the debut spot of Charlie Duffy. To give you an idea of the rapid proliferation of spots, it’s only three weeks old.

After leaving Tivoli Road Bakery, Duffy built a strong following selling precisely pleated pain suisse and fermented chilli-cheese twists (a top 30 snack in The Age Good Food Guide 2024) from Small Batch coffee roastery in North Melbourne.

A bit of a “knock twice and repeat the code” location, it didn’t stop people from discovering his talent. They’d sit on rickety benches in the bluestone lane in all weather and, between visits, keep watch for new creations Duffy posted on Instagram. Some of these received glowing comments from baking royalty such as Belinda Jeffery.

Now, after five years in North Melbourne, Duffy has a stage befitting his work. Stone-trimmed, street-facing and light-filled, the space hasn’t changed much since it was Little Molli, a deli from the Mulberry Group (who are not involved in this venture). The main difference is the large open kitchen that wafts buttery, cheesy and sweet smells to those waiting for coffee or pastries.

Long-time Duffy fans might lean towards their old favourites. Who wouldn’t want to be reacquainted with a well of croissant dough filled with Meyer lemon curd and capped by peaks of torched meringue?

How about the genius combination of ham, cheese and perky green tomatoes that are fermented with dill, garlic and bay leaf? It’s excellent, just the right balance of acid and richness, but the new MVP of the savoury line-up is the corn and cheese guy that has the excellent name of bomba Calabrese. In the middle hides the “bomb”: Duffy’s take on the Calabrian condiment in the pastry’s name. Italian chillies, green olives, garlic and more bring a kick; whipped ricotta and pecorino cool things down.

Sometimes, the long-fermented pastry seems as though it’s been draped like a piece of fabric, swooping across the pork and fennel seed filling of a sausage roll. Other items are as precise as a pinstripe suit. See the ultra-fine ridges of laminated dough that make a round pastry filled with lush blood orange cream, lemon financier and mandarin segments. Look at the neat scalloped edges of the tiramisu tartlet. Take a moment before you demolish that plain croissant to admire the tissue-paper layers inside.

Duffy cares about flavour. He sneaks heritage flours from Mornington Peninsula grower Tuerong Farm into his doughs. He chooses Saint David Dairy butter for his puff pastry, sources Victorian ham and pork, and uses chocolate batons from bean-to-bar operation Planet Cocoa in West Melbourne.

Rolls at lunch are made on stirato, Italy’s crunchy answer to the baguette. You might luck out on roasted broccolini (hear me out) given a deli cabinet twist with fat green olives and a capsicum and dried tomato pesto.

Seating is all outside – you too can add crumbs to Melbourne’s great big pastry fairytale! – or there’s a handsome green stone bar to lean on inside the window.

At the moment, you’re likely to stand in a short queue of locals and bakery superfans. Pastries do sell out, but they’re replenished a couple of times a day and the kitchen’s ramping up quantities.

It’s exciting to see so much enthusiasm for one of our city’s emerging baking stars. Better still, Duffy says he’s got plenty of new ideas he’s yet to show us.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.