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In good news for fans of tiny Little Collins Street bakery Kudo, you’ll soon be able to get your hands on even more of its cult-favourite gluten-free bakes, with a whole new line-up hitting the shelves at a bigger space just off Brunswick’s Sydney Road.
Named Itera, it’s the first solo venture for former Sunda pastry chef Felix Goodwin and his partner Elena Nguyen, who opened their first business with the Windsor Group (also behind Aru). They’ve enlisted ex-Society chef Kelvin Ong to bring a touch of restaurant finesse to the new menu.
“At Kudo we’re very limited by the space and the times that we can cook,” Goodwin says. “Here, we are able to cook and shape and bake more in line with what we had initially wanted to.”
What started as a lockdown pop-up inside the Hotel Windsor quickly became one of the city’s premier spots for gluten-free baking, with Kudo demanding more from the team than what they could produce in a space of 80 square metres.
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Itera is more than four times that size and allows the couple to realise what they’ve been working towards for years: a triple-threat venue that combines a takeaway bakery, a shop for quality pantry essentials and a 26-seat cafe.
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It’s not your average brunch fare, either. Opening dishes include cheesy corn and gruyere rarebit with Vegemite butter, and hulking crumbed prawn patties stuffed into brioche buns with cod roe mayo. Flaky chicken congee pot pies pay homage to both Nguyen’s Vietnamese heritage and the pies Goodwin once baked when working at hatted St Kilda institution Donovan’s.
And yes, every item – from bread to pastries and cakes – is gluten-free. But in true Kudo style, you wouldn’t know it; the standard is on par with top bakeries around town.
“Bakeries seem to be the new wine bar,” Goodwin says. “You can still go and have an experience in a nice space and have something new and interesting, but you don’t have to be paying $100 for the experience.”
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Despite their collective fine-dining experience, the team is adamant that Itera is still a casual, accessible daytime spot: somewhere you can grab a loaf of sourdough or a carton of eggs, walk in for a leisurely lunch or get a cup of Single O coffee to go.
Kudo’s famous caneles – small eggy cakes baked in fluted moulds – will also join the line-up, filled with gooey custard. Choose from pandan and taro or star anise and coffee, among other rotating flavours. Creativity extends to the drinks, where signature matcha and coffee drinks are topped with salted cold foam.
The name Itera is a nod to both Goodwin and Nguyen’s evolution and the bakery’s swish architectural design, led by Melbourne firm Denton Corker Marshall, which uses the repetition of circular shapes as a motif for the team’s full circle moment. A takeaway bakery counter flows into a central retail section stocked with merchandise, ceramics and pantry goods such as chilli oil, pickles, condiments and coffee; beyond this lies the cosy dining area. Each room is framed by open timber rings.
Itera opens at 4A Ballarat Street, Brunswick on Saturday, September 12 with complimentary coffee and matcha on offer with any purchase.
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Emily Holgate – Emily is a producer for the Good Food App at The Age. She previously wrote for the likes of Broadsheet and Urban List.Connect via email.AdvertisementAdvertisement