Worth the wait? Hundreds queue for scrolls at a tiny, unmarked bakery

5 hours ago 3

For the past two weekends, the line for a new bakery has snaked around the block. Good Food joined the queue to find out what makes Sundays so special.

Bianca Hrovat

The queue for Sundays in Bondi went around the block last weekend.

It’s 9.15am on Friday and there are about 30 people in line outside Bondi’s newest social media sensation, a micro-bakery called Sundays. It’s the first business venture from 22-year-old Laeticia Loefti and it specialises in just two things: cinnamon scrolls and matcha lattes.

One week after it launched, it’s clear Sundays is a hit. If I turned up at the weekend, I would have encountered hundreds of customers queuing down Bondi Road and around the corner onto Imperial Avenue, waiting upwards of an hour to get their hands on the pillowy swirls of soft, sweet dough slathered with spoonfuls of vanilla and cinnamon cream-cheese icing.

Kinder Bueno, pistachio, Biscoff and traditional cinnamon scrolls at Sundays Bondi.

“I had no idea we’d have that sort of response,” says Loefti. “We didn’t advertise, I was just posting on Instagram about all the behind-the-scenes action like, how all of our equipment arrived late and how stressed I was and how nothing was going right.”

“I think that got people talking, and then they actually showed up to support me after following my journey. It was so wholesome but like, insane, to see the community we created.”

Friday seems to be the best time to visit, if you can swing it – it took 27 minutes for me to reach the front counter. There are Lycra-clad gym-goers, oodle-toting families, and two locals in their Ugg boots who wandered down because they saw the cafe on Instagram (“I don’t even like sweets!” says one).

The fast-growing line, lack of signage and lingering scent of cinnamon has piqued the curiosity of one man on his way to the gym. “Can I ask, what are you queuing for?”

He asked the right person – Loefti has just given me the low-down. Together with her mother, Ellyn, she spent three months working full-time to develop her cinnamon scroll recipe.

“There was a lot of trial and error using this tiny oven we have at home, and we broke our Kitchen Aid mixer,” Loefti says. “We really wanted to get it right, but we were struggling to develop a recipe that was really, really soft.”

Loefti says her grandmother in Indonesia provided a vital piece of information: “She wrote one of her bread recipes [similar to roti sisir] on a napkin, took a photo, and sent it to mum.

“We combined it with the other recipe we’d been working on, and that’s what we use today.”

The man who questioned me in line seems confused. “I didn’t think we ate stuff like that any more,” he says. “But I’ve seen people coming here to line up after the gym.”

Despite the scepticism, Loefti’s timing couldn’t be better: cinnamon scrolls are having a moment, both domestically and abroad. In New York, pop-up bakery Loser’s Eating House went viral for its supersized scrolls served each Monday at celebrity haunt Jean’s. In London, Buns from Home is taking over the city with scrolls made from viennoiserie.

Meanwhile in Sydney, acclaimed pop-up stall Bobo’s Bakery has become so popular that long lines have started obstructing other market stalls (the bakery has gently pleaded with customers to be mindful of where they stand).

Loefti’s hand-rolled scrolls are baked fresh for three timed “drops” every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (at 9am, 10.30am and 12pm). Each batch is temperature-checked and topped with one of four icing flavours: traditional cinnamon, pistachio, Biscoff and Kinder Bueno. The drinks menu is short, sweet and mostly green, featuring several variations of a matcha latte.

Sundays has become a social media sensation.

Is Sundays worth the wait? Short answer: yes.

The $9 traditional cinnamon scroll might be the best I’ve ever eaten. It’s a squishy, just-sweet-enough delight that makes a huge, fun mess as you pull each layer apart. It’s lighter than you might expect, too – a couple of hours after finishing one, I’m starting to crave another.

Loefti’s commitment to serving the scrolls warm, the presence of her entire family behind the counter, and the relaxed Beach Boys tunes playing over the speaker combine to create a cosy, community experience that’s tough to replicate. I’m already planning a return visit.