Travelling Foodie’s Guides To Bakeries: Read Me First!

Welcome to the Travelling Foodie’s Guides series!

Inside, you’ll find info and opinions targeted towards YOU, the foodie who isn’t afraid to travel for food (specifically pastries and cakes, in this case), that help you decide whether to travel to a bakery, or to order from them

Why Read This ReadMe

This is essentially the Readme.txt file of the series – if you feel like a nerd reading this, that’s because it’s true, and there’s not much we can do about it

That said, people who read instruction manuals, tend to get the most out of the thing they’re using

They also spend less time later reinventing the wheel – trying to figure out how to do something that the instruction already explains

This first post will describe the sections included in the upcoming travel guides, explain why they’re important, and point out travel planning tips and strategies where relevant

So, for reading this, your future self thanks you for being a smart travelling cookie

Suggestions On How To Read The Travelling Foodie’s Guides

These travelling foodie’s guides are meant to be for reference

So, if you binge the whole post from start to finish (thank you, by the way), and notice any double-up in the info, just know that this is a feature and not a bug – each section is meant to be informative in a self-contained way, so some key things may get repeated

Also, don’t be shy about using the table of contents, and only reading the bits that interest you – everyone has different needs and wants to consider when planning a foodie trip or delivery – you’re welcome to come back for more pleasure (or pain – your choice) at your leisure

Structure of the Travelling Foodie’s Guides

The Travelling Foodie’s Guides are divided into 4 main parts:

(Summary here too)

1. Info
2. Offerings
3. Opinions
4. Summary

Travelling Foodie’s Guides: Info

This section gives you the straight facts about the bakery – like opening hours, location, booking, delivery, and so on

It’s the boring stuff that most people rather not have to read about in Travelling Foodie’s Guides, but it’s what you need to know if you want to want to get to the bakery’s pastries without delay or disappointment

Travelling Foodie’s Guides: Offerings

This is the sexy stuff – it’s the things that the bakery does or offers that make you want to visit or buy from them

A bakery may have all or none of these things – although the less they have, the less remarkable they are, and the less likely they are to feature in these guides, as the less there is to differentiate them from the average bakery near the food court – and we don’t want to make you depressed* by insinuating that you would do research and make plans, just to buy from such bakeries

(*Ok yes, it would be really funny to do so – but as mean as we mean to be, we do value our time, and fancy ourselves food-lovers, and would rather not write about forgettable bakeries)

This part still counts as facts, as there are direct info that we can refer to

Travelling Foodie’s Guides: Opinions 

Then there are opinions

Stuff in this section is not directly back up by info, but indirectly – by our interpretation of available info or opinions, or by our own visit

We understand that everyone’s mileage may vary, and at the end of the day, you have to make up your own mind

However, we are also aware that foodie may spend – and waste – much time and effort on our pilgrimages in search of worthy venues – especially long trips

Thus, we want to offer as many reference points as possible (even if they may be subjective) that help with your reasoning, so you may make the best decisions, and get the most enjoyment out of your trips

Travelling Foodie’s Guides: Summary

The summary distils and lists the most notable things about the bakery

It gives a reminder of what may have interested you in the first place, and a reference point for quickly comparing bakeries you’re deciding between

It can also give a convenient glance at whether a bakery is worth your time to research more into – for this reason, the Summary is also included at the front of the guide, for quick reference

Sections of the Travelling Foodie’s Guides

Inside each main part, are sections

Summary

• Visit / Order If You Like

1. Info
   1. Opening Hours
   2. When Do They Sell Out
   3. Location
   4. Closeness To Other Notable Bakeries
   5. Menu + Prices
   6. Online Pre-Order 
   7. Bookings
   8. Deliveries

2. Offerings
   1. What Are Their Signature Products
   2. What Specials Do They Do
   3. What Do They Do Really Well
   4. Catering For Dietary Restrictions
   5. What Packaging Do They Use

3. Opinions
   1. How Visually Marketable Are Their Products
   2. How Worthwhile Is A Physical Visit
   3. How Full-Stack Are They
   4. Gifting Potential

4. Summary
   1. Visit / Order If You Like

Travelling Foodie’s Guides Section: Info

Opening Hours

Bakeries open and close relatively early, because:

• You can’t rush things like fermentation, proofing, baking, and cooling – so bakers start work as early as before midnight, probably has to stay to run the shop – and have to sleep at some point
• Fresh pastries and bread are most desired earlier in the day, meaning there’s little demand to bake and supply it throughout day and night
• There is no point keeping the shop open once everything sells out

As a result, most bakeries open around 6 or 7am, and close around 1 or 2pm

Some bakeries close later, but that’s usually the exception rather than the rule

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If the place has narrow opening hours, and they match up with your planned trip, you should choose it over bakeries with wider hours, as you’re less likely to be free to visit the restrictive-hours bakery in the future

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Right now, the delivery trips listed by PastryTaxi are based on trips that the drivers have planned already

For longer trips, the driver may choose to leave earlier, to get to the destination with more business/waking hours to do stuff with

Since bakeries open early, this lines up well with the earlier trips by drivers, since bakeries should be open when the drivers are about to start their long drives

This means that PastryTaxi drivers are perfectly-placed to deliver from bakeries to you

When Do They Sell Out Of Specials / Staples

Breads and pastries are finicky things, in that they lose a lot of quality very quickly, which is why any foodie worth their salt would thumb their noses at pastries left overnight – and at bakeries that sell overnight goods

And bakeries know that they would lose a ton of reputation if they sold old baked goods – not to mention there’s no demand for it

So, bakeries would rather undershoot in supply, rather than overshoot – they would rather sell out early and close early (and look like their stuff is in-demand), then have left-overs at the end of the day – and have to bin it (money down the drain in terms of labour and ingredients), or give it away (good for charity, bad for product desirability)

This means that, for any bakery worth going to, the question isn’t if they will sell out – but when

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If your trip schedule means you can only visit a bakery later in the day, maybe don’t pick somewhere which sells out early – or you will likely make that trip for nothing

And vice versa: If you’re free to visit a bakery quite early (before 9 or 10am), pick a bakery which sells out early, so you can be part of the elite that gets to experience the bakery’s full range of offerings

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

PastryTaxi has the advantage that our drivers

• Start out the trip already close to the bakery
• Will likely start the trip early

So, if you’re after an in-demand bakery or item, PastryTaxi has the best chance of getting there when it counts, and getting the goods into your hands ASAP

Location

The location of the bakery is pretty self-explanatory

However, some bakeries have multiple branches – and only certain branches have certain specials (e.g. specialty days at Flour & Chocolate Northgate and not Morningside, all monthly specials at Lune South Brisbane and not Brisbane CBD), or branches may open / close at different times

Public transport and parking options will also be included in this section

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re considering bakeries for your pit-stop, the further away a bakery is from you, the more you should choose it, as you’re less likely to be as close to that bakery in the future

Also, if you’re after special items at a bakery with multiple branches, make sure you’re visiting the correct branch:

• If separate branches have their own IG accounts, check if the account features the special/s you’re interested in – and also check the text that it’s actually at that branch (and it’s not a branch cross-promotion)
• Click on wherever you saw the special (or the site or socials) – it should tell you clearly (in the text) which branch to find it at

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Is a bakery too far away for you to travel to?

Do they have poor parking or public transport options?

Contact PastryTaxi, and we’ll work out a way to deliver from that bakery to you – affordably

Closeness To Other Notable Bakeries

Closeness of venues is quite subjective, depending on each driver’s definition of “close”, the method of transportation, whether it’s on the way to the destination, and so on

To give some reference for comparison, when we say close, we mean within 5km or 10 minute drive – if there are bakeries just outside of this area, and it’s quite notable (again, this is subjective), it may be included too

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If a bakery is close to other worthwhile bakeries, you get multiple bakeries for the price of one trip, making it more worthwhile over a more isolated bakery, all else being equal

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

When a driver lists a trip, they will usually mention the bakeries they are willing to deliver for

If those bakeries are close to other bakeries you’re interested in, contact us, and see if we can arrange for a trip to the close-by bakery too

Menu + Prices

It surprises me that it’s difficult to find the full range of products and prices offered by bakeries

Maybe the owner isn’t the best at social marketing or SEO

Maybe they want to create an air of exclusivity and mystery around their brand

Maybe the business caters mainly to non-English-speakers, and their menu or web presence isn’t accessible

But the fact remains, we want the menu and price, so we can:

1. Fulfil our Foodie Lurking tendencies
   1. Discovering a bakery you’re potentially interested in, works the same as encountering a new love interest – you want to do a cheeky stalk to see what their deal is
2. Sell the place to ourselves
   1. Not too expensive to be prohibitive
   2. Not too cheap to feel low-quality
   3. They have that type of pastry you always wanted to try
   4. They do an interesting spin on your favourite item
3. Make sure there are no deal-breakers
   1. They still offer the item you were super-pumped about
   2. They cater to your dietary requirements

When Will This Help Me Decide?

To find the menu, you always have the option of:

• Poking around on the Menu and Gallery sections of Google Maps and Zomato, and struggle to zoom and enhance old and probably-outdated photos
• Visiting their Facebook, clicking Can I See The Menu, and hoping someone eventually checks Messages and sends something to you
• Calling them up, and asking them to list out every menu item and price, and feeling like a total Karen doing so
  • (And most people don’t have the mental strength and/or sense of entitlement to do this too)

But if a bakery doesn’t clearly list out its menu items and prices, they are an unknown

And the further away they are from you, the bigger the risk you take when visiting them, because you risk them not having what you’re after, and you wasting all that time and effort, and the opportunity cost of checking out another, more promising bakery

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Our drivers can visit the bakery, photograph the latest menu, do cabinet walkthroughs, and even arrange in-store video-calling, to help you choose the items you desire

And then, let our drivers do all the hard work of bringing the pastries to you

Online Pre-Order 

So, you’ve looked through the bakery’s offerings

You know what you want

Problem is, it’s a limited-quantity item

Or a popular item

Or the bakery is just really popular in general

So, if you visit them, there’s a chance they’ll run out of the item

But – if there’s an online pre-order system, you can be confident that they will definitely put the pastry aside for you

When Will This Help Me Decide?

The longer a bakery stays open, the more likely they are to run out of items – especially popular or special items

So, if you can only visit bakeries later in the day, prioritise ones that have pre-ordering, pay for your items, and get there any time before they close

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Even if a bakery doesn’t have a pre-ordering system, PastryTaxi can help secure your pastries: Since drivers start their trips close to the bakery, they can visit and buy as early as you like, and get the pastries to you far quicker than you can expect

Bookings

Bookings will refer to whether table bookings are possible, what booking methods are available, and if bookings are recommended

Booking possibility is not as simple as a Yes or No – sometimes it’s Maybe: Some bakeries will not advertise the possibility of booking, but if you call or message them, they might accommodate your booking

Booking methods can range from:

• Calling the venue to check times and to book (the most old-school)
• Texting the mobile number quoted on the site or Google Maps
• Sending a contact form on the website
• Emailing
• Messaging on Facebook / Instagram / WeChat / WhatsApp / LINE
• Using an online booking system to check times and book and modify bookings
• A combination of the above

Determining if bookings are required, depends on a bakery’s popularity, and how big the place is

Almost all but the crummiest bakeries have naturally busy periods during the weekday morning rush hours, and weekend brunch hours – during which bookings are recommended by default

Popular bakeries, in contrast, are likely to be busy across all opening hours, and more likely to book out: Not only should you book regardless of time, but you should book weeks in advance –  or at least as soon as possible

If a bakery is big, and has open seating sprawled outdoors, then a booking may be less required, as they are less likely to run out of room; and more tables means more chances that customers at a table are likely to leave at any time – meaning (possibly) shorter wait times

Of course, if it’s unpleasantly hot or cold outdoors, or if you’re expecting bad weather, you should book anyway – because you don’t want to be stuck sitting or waiting outside

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If bookings are possible, making a booking offers insurance that you will get in at the time you specify

This is especially important for bakeries that are long trips away, since you can’t just come back tomorrow – if the bakery is full with a queue, you might get in late – or not get in at all

So, if you:

• Are working with a set schedule
• Don’t have time to wait around
• Have people in tow (especially kids)
• Expect the weather or climate to be bad
• Don’t want to sit outdoors
• Have somewhere specific you want to sit

You should pick a place that does bookings; or if the place has no bookings available, that it’s larger in venue (in that it has more tables and chairs), or to pick a day and time that is least likely to be busy (check Google Maps for busy-ness levels)

In contrast, if you

• Don’t have a fixed schedule 
• Don’t mind waiting to get in
• Don’t mind waiting outside
• Are by yourself (or are with patient / understanding people)
• Expect pleasant weather or climate
• Don’t mind where you sit

You can afford to pick a spot that is walk-in only, or to skip the booking process

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If you can’t be bothered with bookings, queues, or the long drive to-and-from that far-away bakery, let us bring their pastries to you

If you work for anything above minimum wage, the delivery cost will be way less than the cost of your time and effort

Deliveries

Basically, does the bakery work with any food delivery service already?

If so, how far do they deliver?

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re travelling close to the bakery – but not by car (by public transport instead), and the bakery is too hard to get to, getting pastries delivered to your place of stay could be a viable option – in this case, you may consider accommodation close enough to the bakery to make delivery possible at all, and to minimise delivery fees

To do this, on your computer*, make a list of accommodation in consideration and their physical address, then open up the food delivery platform of the bakery, and set the delivery address to the accommodations you’re considering, and see if delivery options are available, and for what price, and note this info down

*You can do this on mobile too – it’ll just be heaps slower and harder, as you’ll be doing a lot of tab-switching, copy and pasting, and typing

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If you find that existing delivery options can’t deliver to you, or are too expensive, or the bakery simply doesn’t offer delivery, try out PastryTaxi: We do long-distance deliveries from any bakery our drivers can get to, and keep prices affordable for customers, by batching our deliveries

Travelling Foodie’s Guides Section: Offerings

What Are Their Signature Products

Are there any items which are only available at that bakery? Or that this bakery is famed for making?

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re a foodie powered by FOMO, you’ll likely choose the bakery with a signature that you’ve never tried, over one without a signature – regardless of how high-quality the latter bakery’s offerings are

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If you learn of a signature pastry from a bakery far, far away, and get mad FOMO because you can’t go in person, just get it delivered with PastryTaxi 

What Specials Do They Do

These time-sensitive promotions can be monthly, weekly, weekend, or even daily specials

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re after the time-sensitive special, and it’s coming to the end of month / week / weekend / day that the special runs for, this bakery takes priority over any others

If there’s still time, you can consider other factors, and decide between different bakeries

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Never miss out on time-sensitive specials anymore, by getting drivers coming from where the bakery is to lug it to you – this is literally the reason the PastryTaxi was created (no, really)

What Do They Do Really Well

Whether you’re making a trip, or getting delivery, you probably want to know that you’re getting quality

If a bakery is famed for doing things authentically, it will also be mentioned here

When Will This Help Me Decide?

Say that you’re craving a specific item (e.g. almond croissants):

A store might be average at most things, but absolutely kill it at almond croissants – then you should go there

Or say you want to try a wide selection of pastries:

A store might not be known for any specific item, but does a lot of items really well – then you should go there

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Whether you want one pastry, or a dozen pastries and cakes, PastryTaxi can bring it to you – affordably

Catering For Dietary Restrictions

Not everyone eats everything, which can be for ethical / health / allergy / religious / family / personal / other reasons

And most bakeries cater to common dietary requirements, by including vegan / gluten-free options – which are usually brownies and cakes, as they are relatively easier to substitute with alternative ingredients

However, it takes an entirely different level of specialisation to make things like vegan or gluten-free pastries, and expect levels of rise, flakiness, crunchiness, richness, aroma – and so on – that’s similar to pastries made with traditional ingredients

That said, there are bakeries that specialise in vegan or gluten-free pastries – just don’t expect to find many (or any), especially if you live in a medium to small town

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re vegan or coeliac, and you love pastries, then you literally have no choice but to track down the vegan and gluten-free pastry shops which aren’t too far from you

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If vegan or gluten-free pastries are a must for you, but you’re nowhere near close enough to a specialist bakery to even consider going there, then let PastryTaxi come to you

Our drivers are already taking that trip because they have to (for personal / family / work reasons – not because we forced them to ❤️😊) – so let them make YOUR pastry trip, so you don’t have to

What Packaging Do They Use

Do they just have paper bags for everything? Or paper boxes for cakes and more delicate items? Or even reusable carry bags?

And are the packaging just plain? Or do they have the bakery’s branding, or even pretty artwork?

When Will This Help Me Decide?

The sturdier and prettier the takeaway packaging, the better the bakery for takeaway, meaning you can buy treats for your loved ones, or just more for yourself later, making the trip more worthwhile than to another bakery

If you’re taking really long trips, and your esky has limited space, and you want to buy as much as you can carry (maybe you’re far away from great pastry places, or maybe you’re building a stash to tide you through winter), then you might actually want paper bags, which are much more compressible and collapsible

If the bakery has pretty packaging, you can get items for others, not only as random treats, but as proper souvenir gifts, or even last-minute presents

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

The hardier the takeaway packaging, the longer it can spend on the road – meaning it’ll likely be in great shape even when ordered from far away

Travelling Foodie’s Guides Section: Opinions

How Visually Marketable Are Their Products

Look, a huge part of our lives these days, is doing things for the ‘gram

You might be morally against it, you might think it’s lame or try-hard, or you might be too busy anyway for that bullshit

But you know that the game is afoot, and if you’re gonna play the game (i.e. share anything on social media for temporary self esteem and the perception of clout), you might as well play it well (maximise the attention and engagement you get)

And if you have a foodie social account, it’s expected that you share notable content

And a way to do so, is by getting visually striking desserts

For example, why show off a plain croissant, when you can show off a Loaded Croissant, which looks different from every angle, and oozes magic when you cut it open

Some bakeries have your staple pastries and cakes

And some have specials and signatures that are the ‘gram-able goodness

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re the purist connoisseur type, who gives 0% shits about social approval, and is all up in the business of:

• How traditional the recipe is
• What the provenance of the ferment is
• If the flour is sourced directly from France
• If the milk is at least from Maleny
• Which world-renowned bakeries that the head baker has trained in
• How well the pastry shapes adhere to the golden ratio
• Which preparations of coffees pair best with which pastries at what time of the day, at what level of humidity, and at what level of appetite

And various king shit that 99% of people don’t know or care about, then you’re probably only have two criteria: Quality and authenticity

If you’re literally anyone else, you probably want your pastry to look good, photograph good, and do other things good too – and if you’re dragging friends and family along on a long trip, pretty pastries (rather than plain pastries) also help sweeten the deal

So, as long as you’re not a purist connoisseur, the visual appeal of pastries should be a relevant tie-breaker for choosing bakeries to visit

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If you see a bakery with a pastry or cake that makes your heart flutter, and you simply must have it (or have it all), PastryTaxi can help with that – just drop us an email or DM

How Worthwhile Is A Physical Visit

I’m guessing there are some bakeries out there with the Trap Kitchen origin story: Just a ghost kitchen with some drive-thru drop-off operation by runners, that blows up through killer social media marketing and word-of-mouth

And the offerings might be the best you’ve ever tasted – but there’s nothing to make you choose physically visiting the place (other than Foodie Pilgrimage reasons) over delivery

I mean, you could always sit on the ground in front of the bakery and eat those pastries – but you might want a coffee too

Of course, most places at least have a storefront, and some sit-down space, which technically makes a physical trip not unwarranted

Then there are places who really make physical trips worthwhile

It might be the whole cafe atmosphere – the decor, lighting, aroma

It can be the impeccable customer service

It can be celebrities who frequent the joint

It can be the specials that you can NOT order for delivery, or even pre-order for pick up – meaning you have to make a point to visit

It can be the partnerships the bakery has, that sees them stock flowers, trinkets, coffee and tea products, and other stuff that are sold in-store only

When Will This Help Me Decide?

This is closely related to full-stack-ness and visual appeal of offerings, in that, the more worthwhile a physical visit, the more you should prioritise it, when you actually have enough time for a proper visit, and/or have friends / family / coworkers in tow

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Whilst PastryTaxi cannot deliver the experience of physically visiting the bakery to you, we can deliver whatever you can buy there

For example, our drivers can work with you to buy things that isn’t on the online shop, and even arrange a video call to show you the range and prices of offerings, for products which aren’t advertised online, or specials that change without warning

Full-Stackness

Full-stack is a coding term, to indicate a developer who can do everything – both the front-end (how a site/app looks) and back-end (how a site/app works)

Similarly, the more full-stack a bakery is, the more they do

For example, visit options can range from takeaway only, to offering some table space, to offering tables and chairs, to offering various seating arrangements (indoor and outdoor; multiple levels, table and bar)

Offerings could range from only cakes, to cakes and pastries, to both sweet and savoury foods (e.g. sandwiches), to both cold AND hot foods and desserts (e.g. pies), to those things AND proper sit-down meals and desserts

Beverage options could range from offering no drinks, to only canned or bottled drinks, to coffees, to coffees and teas, to coffees and teas and alcohol, to a selection that warrants hiring a wine AND beer sommelier

Opening times could range from breakfast only, to brunch / lunch / afternoon tea, to occasionally dinner or beyond

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If a bakery offers in-house seating, drinks, and sit-down dining, you can go there for a meal, order desserts, and take some more dessert for takeaway – and maybe some pies and quiches and there’s your next meals sorted: There’s more to do there, and the chance to try more things, and the chance to try before you buy more of the favourites you didn’t know about (until you tried it)

So, if you’ve got the time, or have family / friends / coworkers in tow, you should go for a full-stack sort of place

If you’re in a rush, and can’t even afford a full pit-stop, maybe choose a less full-stack place – you can’t miss out on the venue experience and item range, if they don’t offer it in the first place

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

If a bakery has a huge range of offerings, it is extra worthwhile to make a group order with family and friends, so you get to sample much more from one delivery

Gifting Potential

The gift-ability of a bakery’s offerings comes in all forms

From intricate packaging, to virally popular offerings, to birthday-worthy cakes, to last-minute catering options, to artisan-style small batch merchandise

When Will This Help Me Decide?

Are you taking a road-trip to a wedding / baby shower / holiday reunion? Or to visit clients? Or you’re returning from a trip, and there’s an obligation to get souvenirs?

When gift-giving is expected, the level at which a bakery can help you achieve that goal, definitely serves as a tie-breaker

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Bakeries with great gifting potential don’t have to be out of reach if you’re not travelling there: Let PastryTaxi bring the gifts to YOU, so you can get back to enjoying the reunion, planning the party, or packing for the getaway

Travelling Foodie’s Guides Section: Summary

Visit / Order If You Like

If you’re time-poor and unsure about a bakery, have a quick scan of this section – then read about other sections that you find relevant

To make referencing even quicker, each list item will be linked to its corresponding section in the post

Also, after reading the whole guide, this section should give you a reminder of what you found worthwhile 

For this reason, the Summary will be included at the beginning and end of the guide

When Will This Help Me Decide?

If you’re considering a long trip to visit a bakery, you’ll definitely want to do your research – and the first step is to see if you should even invest time researching any particular bakery

How Does This Relate To PastryTaxi?

Planning delivery via PastryTaxi is actually lower-stakes than planning a physical trip, since we make long distance delivery a lot more affordable than traditional food delivery services

That said, you still want to enjoy the pastries you get delivered, and this guide hopefully gives you a better idea of what to expect from different bakeries

Also, if you’re unsure if a physical trip will be worth it, let PastryTaxi start your recon for you: Get some pastries delivered from them, and if you enjoy it, be confident that your trip to that bakery will be similarly enjoyable

Give Us The Travelling Foodie’s Guides Already

Now that the lecture is out of the way, sink your teeth into the finest Japanese cheesecake in the whole of Brisbane, with the Travelling Foodie’s Guide to Mountain River Patisserie!