After winning the hearts of Brisbane residents with its lockdown-saving pastry pop-up, Agnes Bakery found a permanent home in 2021. Owners Ty Simon, Ben Williamson and Frank Li had long been on the search for a long-term site for the woodfired bakery, finally securing the former Arc + Family space on the corner of James and Harcourt Streets in Fortitude Valley for the pop-up’s bricks-and-mortar abode. During its initial pop-up at the Agnes restaurant site, the team worked out of the restaurant kitchen, baking four loaves at a time over a 24-hour period. The permanent site will feature a custom-built pastry kitchen and woodfired oven specifically designed to perfect the mouth-watering baked goods Agnes Bakery is so loved for. All of the pop-up favourites have made a return, with an added array of sweet and savoury items (and espresso-based coffee) also thrown into the mix. Crowd-pleasing malted grain and molasses sourdough, seeded, and smoked potato bread are available alongside experimental loaves like choc-hazelnut sourdough, while a bolstered batch of kouign amanns and danishes are also on hand. The expanded range also includes choux filled with milk chocolate, sesame and caramel, chocolate tarts with dulche de leche and peanut, and, of course, the Basque cheesecake. Speaking of cakes, slices of carrot cake, raspberry chiffon and spiced-rum flans are available, as well as a rotating cookie inspired by iconic Australian biscuits. Rounding out the savoury selection are ham-and-gruyere pithiviers with caramelised onion and mustard, and potato buns stuffed with bacon, egg and relish. Much like the pop-up, Agnes Bakery will gradually build up a fully stocked larder brimming with goods such as cheeses, house-made wood-smoked butter and relishes, salumi and even some items from the group’s restaurants.