Happy as Larry – Buderim welcomes a brand-new bakery and cafe from a talented trio
Buderim has a new must-visit, and it’s drawing crowds for good reason. Larry Bakery fuses old-school bakery staples with sharp culinary nous and a heavy dose of creativity. Come for the pastries, stay for the brunch and expect to leave with more than you planned.
Creating a travel-worthy dining destination isn’t an easy task. It takes a lot of thought and planning to make any venue worth a detour – just ask Tally Argent and Laura Downton.
The accomplished chefs have done it already with their heralded 30-seat Magnetic Island eatery, Restaurant Elsie. Now, alongside good friend and pastry chef Tyrah Brickwood, the crew has gone two-for-two with Larry Bakery – a beatific bakery and cafe hybrid that opened in the heart of Buderim back in February.
Channeling their combined experience working at top spots like Three Blue Ducks in Byron Bay and The Bread Social, the trio has crafted a spot that is absolutely worth pulling off the M1 to check out. Judging by the crowds that visited over the Easter long weekend, the good word of Larry has already spread to Brisbane and beyond.
“Yeah, it was a huge weekend – we sold tons of hot cross buns,” says Tally with a laugh when we caught up with her earlier this week.
But what makes Larry Bakery a must-visit destination? Well, first and foremost, the menu. Tapping into old-school Australian bakeries for inspiration for the venue’s vibe and product range, Tally, Laura and Tyrah have woven a sense of nostalgia through Larry’s offering, meshing creative flair and culinary technique to create a dine-in and takeaway selection that is elevated in quality but still highly approachable.
“We love food. We just wanted to serve quality pastry and breakfast and make it just really accessible and welcoming for everyone,” explains Tally.
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“I feel like there’s a conception – especially with restaurants – that quality and casual don’t go together. Like, something can’t be relaxing and also really good. It’s not meant to be too polished or too cool for school. Everything [at Larry] is just really high quality and really yummy.”
Behind the scenes, duties are divided between the three – Tally and Laura predominantly oversee Larry’s cafe side, while Tyrah’s domain is all things dough and pastry. Though semi-siloed into their respective specialities, Tally tells us that there’s plenty of creative synergy between both halves of Larry’s engine room.
“We work together quite a bit,” Tally says. “The kitchen will make the fillings for the pies and then the bakery will make the pastry. I’ll go to them and say, like, ‘Oh, I really want to do this,’ and they’ll say, ‘Can you make these fillings for a scroll?’
“For me as a chef, it’s cool that we can collaborate on a dish that I would have to either figure out how to make, or buy in, or however it is. That’s quite unique.”
Larry’s pastry cabinet is jam-packed with sweet and savoury goodness, with most classic items given an inventive zhuzh.
Subscribe for updatesYou’ve got your evergreen favourites like croissants, pain au chocolat and seasonal-fruit-filled danishes, plus some more gourmet riffs. Think Crunchy Nut croissants (Larry’s take on an almond croissant), cinnamon sticks, muffin tops and brown-butter-glazed doughnuts. There’s also Basque cheesecakes, Portuguese tarts and apple turnovers for those seeking something extra luxurious.
As for savoury, carbonara scrolls, potato curry rolls, chicken-and-leek pies and deli sandwiches are on offer, alongside challah, focaccia and tin sourdough loaves, though the range as a whole is likely to fluctuate based on the creative whims of Tyrah.
“[She] mixes it up a lot – I don’t think she makes any rules for herself, she just goes with it,” says Tally. “I just don’t even know how she comes up with the things that she comes up with. She is so skilled, to the point where I am just so grateful to work with her and to be in business with her.”
On the cafe side, Tally and Laura have delivered a versatile menu that bridges nourishment and decadence. Plates like the Green Eggs & Ham (poached eggs, mortadella, hash browns and herbed hollandaise), the Upside-Down Pineapple Pancake (maple, whipped cream cheese and macadamia) and the Happy As Plate (a Euro-inspired medley of soft-boiled egg, avo and toast with pickles) share menu space with classics.
“Now that we’ve opened and we’ve settled in, we’re getting more creative with the menu – we’re super excited to start doing different things and changing it up a lot more with specials,” says Tally. “I feel like there’s no rules to breakfast, you know? I think I could see us doing some more lunchtime, restaurant-style specials and things like that. Lots of different stuff.”
As for drinks, the Larry team has linked up with Sunshine Social for its coffee supply, with flat whites and batch brews on offer alongside flavoured iced teas, matcha and the venue’s take on a Mont Blanc (topped with croissant butter cold foam).
When it comes to the space itself, the Larry crew is maximising the building’s character elements, mixing modern and rustic textures, with yellow tiles juxtaposed against stainless steel. There’s a small amount of seating inside, plus more spread across an alfresco area in view of the pastry kitchen.
“We loved it as soon as we saw it,” says Tally. “We tried to keep [the aesthetic] pretty low-key and natural, leaning into the vibe of the building and the vibe of Buderim. It’s got a good amount of character, so we’re pretty stoked with it so far. We were sort of going for second living room vibes.”
Now, to Buderim locals (and residents of the Sunshine Coast at large), Larry Bakery is obviously less of a destination and more of an everyday haunt, which, at the end of the day, is what Tally, Laura and Tyrah are aiming for. Thankfully, Larry seems to have enmeshed itself into the daily routines of many.
“It’s been great, to be honest – I think busier than we expected from the get go, which was a lot, but it has been really exciting at the same time,” says Tally. “The Sunny Coast community there is awesome, to be honest. We feel very held and grateful that it’s been received so well and that there’s so many happy faces.”
Larry Bakery is now open to the public – operating hours and contact info can be found in The Directory.
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