The freshest of fresh French pastries will now be available in the CBD with South Melbourne Market trader Agathé Pâtisserie opening a tiny, hole-in-the-wall outlet in Melbourne’s iconic Royal Arcade.
The newest offering from French croissant queen Agathé Kerr, Agathé Pâtisserie Petite is a baby sister to Agathé Pâtisserie, which has developed a cult following since opening at South Melbourne Market in July 2015, and regularly attracts a long queue of eager customers waiting for fresh baked treats, warm from her ovens.
Agathé Pâtisserie serves a large, and continuously changing, range of authentic French pastries, cakes and savouries with a focus on innovation; infused croissants (pandan, matcha, café au lait), along with the “cruffin” (salted caramel, Nutella, peanut caramel), are among the more unusual offerings.
“My South Melbourne Market stall keeps me very busy, but I wanted to give city customers a taste of France too, so this will be a smaller, but equally delicious offering,” Agathé says.
Agathé Pâtisserie Petite – a selling window at shop 49A (opposite Evans Shoe & Handbag Repairs), The Royal Arcade – will be stocked each day with a selection of Agathe’s best-selling French pastries, including her famous plain and flavoured croissants; escargot; cherry, pistachio, apricot and brûlée Danish; and sweet, fluffy pain du chocolat.
It’s been a big change for the Parisian mother-of-three, who trained as a pastry chef at the prestigious Ecole de Boulangerie et Patisserie de Paris before moving to Melbourne with her Australian husband, Warren Kerr, in 2013.
Agathé tested the popularity of her baking at her daughter’s school fete in late 2013, serving up croissants and pains au chocolat at the Christmas market. After quickly selling out, Agathé summoned the courage to follow her dream, leaving behind a career as a business consultant to set up her patisserie. Three years later, she manages three businesses and eight full-time staff.
“It’s certainly been a big change, but I love Melbourne and I love being able to share the delicious pastries of my birthplace with my new, adopted home,” Agathé says.
And it’s not just pastries. Agathé has also set up a bakery and is now baking bread – baguettes-only in true French style – next door to her South Melbourne Market patisserie.
Agathé Pâtisserie Petite will open from 8am to 3pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and will extend these hours in the coming months.
Agathé’s new bakery is at Stall 63, beside Agathé Pâtisserie, South Melbourne Market, corner of Coventry and Cecil Streets, South Melbourne. The Market is open every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
For information visit www.southmelbournemarket.com.au or www.agathe.com.au or www.facebook.com/agathepatisserie.
