After growing Home Croissanterie online for the past three years and collecting many loyal followers along the way, owner and head chef Ben Lai has finally put down roots in Balmain in Sydney, opening his first bricks-and-mortar store earlier this year.

Ben began learning his craft during uni holidays while studying computer science and later went on to train at Noma in Copenhagen and Quay, bringing the skills he learnt there to his baking here in Australia. It was these treats that he sold by online ordering before finding a place to call ‘Home’.

“The idea to open a physical space was always in the back of my head, but seemed so far in the future. As incremental progress happened, the idea slowly turned into a possible reality,” Ben told Broadsheet.

Home Croissanterie offers a range of decadent treats, including the ones that made Ben famous online—the sea salt and potato croissants, bacon-maple scrolls, and almond–vanilla cream croissants, to name a few.

Ben’s unconventional start in the viennoiserie world has resulted in a range of different and interesting flavours that have proven very popular with the locals of Balmain, with Home Croissanterie often selling out of products early on weekend mornings.

“I think locals like the atmosphere. Opening a shop is about more than just the food. It’s also about the design, the music, the friendliness of the staff. My hope is that people enjoy themselves and come back,” Ben said.