Staying up all night attempting to perfect a classic French croissant is not typical behaviour for new parents. But Estelle Brunet and Daniel Le miss their sleepless nights in the kitchen.
“When you have kids, you have a relationship and it becomes a family. And we cannot find time with each other – like every couple,” Brunet says. “We started cooking, him and me at night, when the baby was sleeping.”
Estelle is from La Rochelle, on France’s south-west coast, and in the blur of a new baby, was longing for a proper French croissant. Those buttery beauties shaped their late-night baking education – and is the pastry that now underpins the menu at their new Glebe bakery Brune.
“We tried every butter, every flour, different recipes, different techniques. It was hours of looking on the internet, looking at recipes and trialling it all,” Brunet says. After rounds and rounds of blind tests, a mix of Aussie flour and New Zealand butter came out on top.
First there were samples for friends and family, then the push for a market stall in 2024 – which quickly became a sellout hit in Panania. A friend with a Lebanese restaurant rented their kitchen to the couple ahead of each market. Next, people were lining up an hour before they opened, waiting patiently as they laid out their bakes: plain, perfectly symmetrical croissants and fruit-topped danishes, sweet-scented almond-stuffed versions and savoury serves. And they’d sell out in two hours.
“It was just a way to be together, and away from the kids,” Brunet says, laughing at how large the production has become. “We used to go at night, not sleeping all night. It was fun – I kind of miss it, because it was 12 hours of being together, no life outside except us cooking. We loved it.”
Now, five days a week, they trip from south-west Sydney to their new little slice of Glebe Point Road. They split the kitchen time, and are going slow as they feel out their new surrounds. There are classic red and white thatched bistro chairs out the front, and Paradox beans on the coffee machine. Each morning they bake bread for sandwiches, and on the weekend there are sourdough loaves to take home too.
“Opening a dedicated shop was out of the question at the beginning. Even now, I can tell you, it’s full-on. We have three boys [under four]. My husband is out the back right now, making the croissants for tomorrow. As beautiful and amazing a journey as it is, it’s full-on.”
Estelle’s been in Sydney for nine years now, and it feels like fate. “I always dreamed about Australia – I met Daniel the first month I was here. I just knew I would be stuck here. Now he’s becoming French – slowly, slowly.”
Brune is just one piece in the resurgence of Glebe Point Road. The strip’s recently welcomed dumpling deli Dumps, Jamaican Patty Bakehouse, swish bistro Darling Glebe and Korean eatery Kim’s Bop. Plus, the treasured Badde Manors site is currently being revamped.
“We love the Glebe locals. We are from Revesby, and here [in Glebe], in my head, felt like it’s a city, it’s big – but it’s not. It’s like a little town.”
Brune Bakery
28 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
Hours:
Wed to Sun 8.30am–2.30pm
@brune_bakeryy
Dining and Cooking