Design-forward and dough-focused – Landing Bakery opens by the sea in Scarborough
Founded by a pair of hospo veterans responsible for venues like Anytime Coffee and Riser Bread, Landing Bakery is bringing an eye-catching, coastal-inspired aesthetic and a refined menu of inventive baked goods to the Redcliffe peninsula. Locals have been lining up from day one – and judging by the buzz, this seaside spot is already a new neighbourhood favourite. Take a gander inside …
Growing up in Scarborough, Jack Wakefield always had a sense that the suburb needed – and deserved – more.
He felt that compared to its neighbours along the Redcliffe Peninsula, Scarborough didn’t have the same kind of high-quality haunts – we’re talking cafes, bakeries and casual eateries – that its idyllic coastal location warranted.
Jack knew he wasn’t alone in thinking it, but it was only until he decided to enact some change on his own that he had proof.
In 2022, Jack moved back to his old stomping grounds to open Good Company, a bright and beatific cafe that quickly became a go-to brunch spot for locals. While the cafe’s success was enough to prove Jack’s hypothesis was correct, he wasn’t entirely satisfied.
Good Company was sold to new owners earlier this year so Jack could focus on his next venture – a bakery that not only reflected Scarborough’s seaside splendour, but offered a menu that matched the scenery in terms of quality.
To help make the vision a reality, Jack recruited good friend and long-time collaborator Tom Cooney for the gambit. Together, they ran Anytime Coffee in The City (now operated by new owners), while Tom also is one of the brains behind Riser Bread – an outstanding Toowong bakery that set a new benchmark for baked goods when it opened a few years back.
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The duo quietly opened Landing Bakery to the public last week at the base of The Oscar on Landsborough Avenue and, like Jack predicted, the community responded immediately.
“We didn’t tell anyone we were opening on that first day,” Jack recalls. “Somehow, we had people there at 5:30 waiting at the front for us to open because they wanted to be the first customer.”
Though every bakery is different, few take in as much inspiration from its surroundings as Landing Bakery. Jack and Tom wanted the venue’s aesthetic to echo the peninsula’s famous red cliffs while also meshing with its coastal position. To achieve this, they recruited architect Matthew James Reynolds and Clare Kennedy from cross-disciplinary design and fabrication studio Five Mile Radius to help design and manufacture Landing Bakery’s interior.
The resulting design scheme is one that feels unlike anything seen in recent memory, with repurposed materials such as pigmented sand, concrete and plastics creating an inviting space with a textural edge. From the sandcast-concrete coffee counter with pine accents to the polycarbon sheeting affixed to the back feature wall, Landing Bakery’s interior is as much a feast for the eyes as its pastries are for the tongue.
“There aren’t any bad angles in the shop and that’s a huge credit to the guys at Five Mile Radius and Matthew,” says Jack. “I think the way it’s all tied together is amazing. The colour palette is beautiful and it feels really warm and welcoming.”
With large pale timber communal tables inside and a scattering of smaller pink-hued concrete tables outside, Landing Bakery is well equipped to cater to dine-in custom. It’s in this way that Landing Bakery is reminiscent of its half-sibling Riser, but Jack and Tom are looking to differentiate between the two venues when it comes to the offering.
Head baker Dan Smyth has honed in on a concise selection of pastries that skews more towards classics, but with a few inventive tweaks applied across the board to keep things interesting.
You’ll spy crowd-pleasers like croissants and pain au chocolate, but also citrus morning buns, fruit danishes and gochujang scrolls. There’s also hot items like pork, fennel and pistachio sausage rolls, ricotta, pumpkin and miso rolls, rotating sandwiches and an assortment of breads. A retail shelf is stocked with other house-made products like beetroot ketchup, tomato relish and pickles.
“I think everything is pretty balanced in terms of flavours – there’s enough that you’re intrigued about what’s there and but safe enough that you can recognise a lot of the flavours as well,” says Jack.
“I think the philosophy behind it will be to try and keep the menu smaller rather than larger and just nail the products that we do have on the shelf. Seasonality will be a huge factor – I think we’ll try and have four core products every week and then we’ll do a lot of specials and rotations if the guys want to get creative and adventurous.”
On the coffee front, Landing Bakery is pouring its own espresso blend crafted by Vox Roasters, which boasts notes of toffee and stone fruits.
“We just wanted something with rich chocolatey notes, but with low acidity to cut through black coffee,” explains Jack. “We wanted it to be like a sweet black-coffee experience and also offer a full body sweet milk experience at the same time.”
With Redcliffe and its surrounding suburbs enjoying a golden age, there are plenty of excuses for Brisbane foodies to make the trek north. Nevertheless, Jack encourages people to visit – if not just for the pastries, then for the coastal magnificence that informs much of Landing Bakery’s concept.
“I think you can just expect a warm, welcoming bakery by the sea,” says Jack. “[The location] kind of speaks for itself and we’re very lucky to have it. You can grab a pastry and head over to the ocean, or you can sit inside and enjoy the fit-out. We have the best of both worlds here.”
Landing Bakery is now open to the public – head to The Directory for more info.