Wild Cockatoo Bakery, Redfern

There are parts of Botany Road in Redfern that are like a shopfront cemetery – filled with empty display windows or long-shut doors. So you instantly notice when a once-vacant space starts showing vital signs and encouraging proof of a new existence.

I came across Wild Cockatoo Bakery on the weekend, when it had been open for only "three and a half days". It is run by a lovely gent by the name of Ray, who has been mostly based overseas; he likes baking so much that he even has a commercial oven in his garden, to make loaves for his friends.



The bread and treats at Wild Cockatoo are baked in a more conventionally located space. And its shelves feature pies, quite a few sourdough varieties, croissants studded with Belgian chocolate (all gone by the time I turned up, sadly) and a few fruit tarts (pear poached in shiraz and lemon-cured plum were the ones on offer that day). I especially liked the fragrant and sweet Apple Galette ($3.50).

Ray was surprised by the keen demand and explained that more savouries and sourdough loaves will be added to the line-up. Judging from the many people who crowded into the bakery in the short time I was there – including the older couple who cutely identified themselves as "breadies" – there will be just as many visitors keen on walking away with a bag of shelf-liberated goods.

Wild Cockatoo Bakery, 30 Botany Road, Redfern