Lune Croissanterie (Lonsdale St)

Kate Reid worked as an aerodynamicist for the Williams Formula 1 team before she switched to pastry, and she laminates inside a glass-walled, temperature-controlled Cube that holds the butter at one temperature so it never tears through the dough. The result reads in the honeycomb of a plain croissant.

Why go

The Lonsdale St store opened on 10 February 2026 under the Ritz-Carlton, 418 square metres, the fourth Lune in Melbourne and the city's second Lune production kitchen. Time Out puts its output at up to 6,000 croissants a day, and the dough runs on a three-day cycle. The team calls the site "Maxi Lune," with a kitchen almost double the Fitzroy HQ's and a 50-seat gallery room. In 2016 The New York Times asked whether Reid's plain croissant was the finest anywhere, the review that carried a small Elwood shop to a national brand. For a visiting cook it's a short master-class in lamination held at a consistency most kitchens can't manage.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the traditional croissant, eaten plain so the layers show. Then the lamington cruffin (whipped cream, raspberry jam, dark chocolate ganache, desiccated coconut) and the everything croissant (chive cream cheese, everything-bagel crust). The ham and gruyère is the savory pick at breakfast.
• Avoid: building the trip around a limited collaboration pastry. Those sell out in the first hour. The classic croissant stays in the case until stock runs out.

What locals & experts say

• Broadsheet (2026): the team dubbed it "Maxi Lune," a production kitchen "almost double the size of the Fitzroy HQ's" with "seating capacity for 50 people." ref
• Time Out (2026): "the most ambitious site yet," a facility that "can create a whopping 6,000 croissants every day." ref
• The New York Times (Oliver Strand, T Magazine, 2016): the classic croissant, "with its holy balance of buttery heft and feathery flake, may be the finest you will find anywhere in the world." ref

Good to know

• Sites: this entry is Lune Lonsdale, 670 Lonsdale Street, opened February 2026. The Fitzroy site is the original Melbourne HQ and there are two more in the city, plus interstate stores. Hours, queues and the limited-edition range differ by site.
• Hours: roughly 7:30am to 5pm weekdays, 8am start on weekends, closing earlier once the case empties. Mornings hold the full range. Check Maps for exact times.
• Booking: none. Queues form at open and on weekends. Card only.
• From MCEC: about a 15-minute walk up Spencer St. Workable on a clear morning, too far for a between-sessions dash.

Jeff's take (his words)

• Order: the plain traditional croissant, no jam, to judge the lamination.
• Showpieces: the lamington cruffin and the everything croissant.
• Timing: send people before the morning keynote; the twice-baked pastries sell out first.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Held at should-visit on 2026-07-30. The craft is not in question: the New York Times called Kate Reid's croissant one that 'may be the finest you will find anywhere in the world', it is laminated by an ex-Williams Formula 1 aerodynamicist inside a temperature-controlled room that holds the butter so it never tears the dough, and the plain croissant is a short master-class you can eat standing up. This site opened in February 2026 at 418 square metres, so it is genuinely new and the score now knows it. Two things keep it off must-visit. It is a takeaway counter rather than an evening, and in a sweep of 74 picks by 44 Melbourne chefs and bakers, not one named Lune; Kate Reid herself, asked for her favourite baked good in the city, named someone else's cinnamon bun. Public phenomenon, industry shrug. Both facts are true and the entry carries both.