On a quiet Melbourne morning, before the sun casts its first light over Fitzroy’s brick-lined streets, a queue has already begun to form. Some people clutch reusable coffee cups, others scroll through their phones, but all share the same mission: to get their hands on what has been called the world’s best croissant.

This is Lune Croissanterie—a place where pastry is not just baked, but engineered.

Lune’s story begins not in a kitchen, but in the cockpit. Kate Reid, once an aerospace engineer, traded the roar of jet engines for the hum of mixers and the rhythmic fold of dough. After learning the craft in Paris at Du Pain et des Idées, she returned to Melbourne with a singular vision: to perfect the croissant.

In 2012, she opened a tiny bakery in Elwood. The space was modest, but word of her pastries spread quickly, drawing lines out the door. By 2015, demand pushed Lune into a new, larger home in Fitzroy—an industrial-style temple to laminated dough. At its heart is the cube: a climate-controlled glass kitchen where customers can watch each precise turn of the dough, each meticulous layer, each brush of butter.

And when you do finally bite in, you understand the hype. The layers crackle. The flavor lingers. And for a moment, Melbourne feels like the center of the pastry universe.