Overview
The bakery boom continues with Itera, a new dine-in spot from an experienced duo, landing at 4A Ballarat Street, Brunswick. The venue, which combines a takeaway bakery, coffee bar, and a 26-seat cafe, is an independent, all-day spot from Felix Goodwin and Elena Nguyen, the founders of beloved Kudo Bakery.
Bringing together artisan baking, seasonal dining, speciality coffee, and thoughtful design in a welcoming neighbourhood space, Itera has all the makings to become an instant community hub. While independent from Kudo, one of Melbourne's most recognised gluten-free bakeries, Itera will carry forward the experience and learnings that Goodwin and Nguyen have gained during their years in the industry.
"We knew we needed more space to keep growing, and the new Brunswick location gives us the production space we've needed for a while, room for the team to work, and a space where we can offer a dine-in experience, rather than only take-away," say Elena Nguyen and Felix Goodwin.
The offering at Itera is far more diverse than a traditional bakery slinging vanilla slices and meat pies; instead it draws on the team's heritage — such as Nguyen's Vietnamese background and head chef Kelvin Ong's Malaysian origins — to produce inventive, exciting baked goods that showcase seasonal produce and local growers.
There's everything from a chicken congee pot pie to a corn and cheese rarebit with vegemite butter, a spring onion potato rosti to a tiger prawn burger and folded eggs with nduja, labneh and fermented capsicum. Dessert is essentially mandatory, and we'd suggest trying as many of the goodies as possible, from a creme caramel with whipped cream to a pandan and coconut cake.
A particular highlight of Itera is its rotating lineup of canelés, the custardy French pastry enclosed in a dark, caramelised crust. Permanent flavours include the likes of vanilla and rum, jasmine tea with peach ganache and raspberry, pandan and taro, and star anise and coffee.
Images: Parker Blain.
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