A queue on a usually empty part of Parramatta Road in Stanmore alerted me to Pantry Story. This bricks’n’mortar store is the logical next step for Mutiara Sucipto, who began selling her baked goods on Instagram during the early part of the pandemic. As Sydney opened up, Sucipto and fellow baker Hari Wibowo, graduated to weekend market stalls where her range of pan-Asian inspired pastries always sold out. Her most popular item is the brochi ($6), which inserts a chewy glutinous rice mochi into a flat, fudgy brownie. You’ll find it on a plate on the round display table that you loop to work out what you’d like to order.
Being more savoury-inclined we loaded up with a darkly blistered kimcheese focaccia ($9) layered with caramelised onions, kimchi and cheese, and miso, garlic mushroom ($9) version of the same soft airy bread. Both scrubbed up nicely under butter and anchovies later on at home. Despite the coffee machine and range of drinks, seating is low-slung and limited, with many patrons of the popular bakery choosing to pull up on the front step outside. The airy buttery pastry made the beef brisket hand pie ($12) hard to walk past. It shatters to reveal a good amount of well-flavoured beef cooked long and slow so the fat has broken down and the meat is tender. My only gripe was staff opting to load hot and cold items into the same pastry box on top of each other so my brownie-mochi hybrid ate like a hot mess.
