Croissant Crawl | A Pain au Chocolat at Bourke Street Bakery in Sydney

Life is pain ... au chocolat. And coffee.

On my second trip to Blé Sucré in Paris years ago, a young woman was sitting outside with her warm croissant. It was a proper start to the cool fall morning. We somehow got to chatting and learned she was from Sydney. I mentioned Bourke Street Bakery which prompted a, "You know your bakeries." from her. It was a nice compliment but to be honest, if you're in the vicinity of that part of the world you'd be hard pressed to miss them.

The original quaint bakery in Surrey Hills has grown to over 15+ locations now, serving everything from croissants to savory meals and seasonal goods. I was in Australia visiting friends. The coffee culture there was years ahead of the States at the time and I learned of a Flat White before Starbucks introduced the regional drink stateside. The drink's origin is debated between them and their fellow New Zealanders, so I'll let it be. It feels like getting into a debate on the origins of baklava.  In any case, it was a delicious introduction.

On this particular day, I grabbed a pain au chocolat and coffee to go. The cozy interior didn't have space for any guests and I was making my way towards Bondi Beach. The pain au chocolat had an amazing golden-brown color that puffed up beautifully. The shape of the piece looked like a golden ratio spiraling out from the chocolate center. They source their chocolate sticks specifically for the pastry and provide a recipe online for it.

It fits the philosophy for the two friends who founded the bakery, David McGuinness and Paul Allam. The two chefs had never run a business before, but it didn't stop them from executing their vision. After six months of driving around Sydney in their beat up car, they chose this corner as the site to plant their vision. The first order they sold was a pain au raisin and bear claw. I'm sure they've sold a few more since.