Elwood croissant bakery Lune looks to expand to northern suburbs

• Inside Lune Croissanterie

When Kate Reid tossed in engineering to devote herself to pastry-making, she never imagined the fuss she'd cause.

The flaky, buttery pastries she and brother Cameron make by hand at Lune Croissanterie in Elwood have a cult following. One customer has been showing up at 4am every Saturday for the past five months to guarantee his six-croissant quota. Some weeks the line stretches to 50-deep and things occasionally turn waspish when the croissants, twice-baked almond pastries and cruffins (a croissant-muffin hybrid) sell out.

"It's beyond what we expected," says Reid. "We didn't envisage queues when we opened. We thought people would be able to turn up, buy their pastries straight from the oven and eat them on the bench outside."

A year after the opening of their small retail outlet, cafe entrepreneur Nathan Toleman (Top Paddock, Kettle Black) has taken a stake in the business to help Lune expand. Reid worked for Toleman before flying to Paris to train under Christophe Vasseur at highly regarded boulangerie Du Pain et des Idees. "Nathan has always been a fabulous support and a mentor," she says.

They're eyeing a northside property that would allow them to make more pastries and serve them, as in Paris, with coffee.

Reid is giving little away, but says if the plan comes together, customers will be in for an interactive experience when the northside outlet opens in March.

In the meantime, Lune is open at 29 Scott Street, Elwood, every Friday from 7.30am and Saturday and Sunday from 8am until sold out.