Croissants took many forms in 2023. With cubes, hemispheres and squiggles often standing in for the classic crescent shape.

But as Julia Moskin wrote back in March for the * New York Times*, “We will never reach peak croissant.” There’s always room for new and inventive takes on the buttery French classic. At the family-run 2023 newcomer Drom, these include creative flaky variations like the twice-baked hazelnut and chocolate crescent-shaped croissant; the mixed berry and custard half-moon croissant; buttery crème brûlée croissants; and even a half-moon “croissant sandwich” filled with pickled lobster, yuzu, chives, lettuce and celery.

Drom means dream in Swedish. It’s also the name of this buzzing bakery, which nods to the bakers who rise early to work while their customers are still dreaming away in bed. Run by the family operation behind neighbouring cafe The Hatter and the Hare, the takeaway spot draws early lines along its monolithic facade.

Dröm Bakery voted 3rd best croissant in Victoria

Birthed from the whimsical and creative madness of The Hatter & The Hare food emporium, Dröm Bakery is a sibling not to be ignored! If you daydream of European viennoiseries or New York bagel shops, your desires will be totally satisfied. Tucked away in an industrial precinct in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, owners Vinnie and Mary Kodladi have brought to Bayswater an experience of food and coffee that belies its postcode.

I lined up. I scanned the menu of filled bagels and toasties. I looked at the cabinet, feeling my pulse quicken. What an array: croissants, plain and flavoured, many types of bread, tarts and biscuits and the prettiest egg salad sandwich you ever will see.

Drom is busy, beautiful and bountiful. Wrapping behind the laden counter are the kitchens, buzzing with bakers, every process on show.

Queues snake out the door for the slender chocolate-hazelnut crescent and two half-moon pastries that stand on end, sporting raspberry or caramel drips of icing. Demand is so great, they’ve had to adjust their production from a planned 2500 pastries each week to 10,000.

This Bayswater bakery isn’t afraid to reach for the stars — or moon.
Suburban bakehouse Dröm (that’s Swedish for dream) has been ‘baking’ its dreams a reality with its out-of-this-world half moon and crescent-shaped croissants since March.

The unique celestial bakes attract long queues and often sell out soon after sunrise.

Hold on to your hats ladies and gents - the masterminds from The Hatter and The Hare have spread their wings and opened the most INCREDIBLE bakery this Mamma has ever seen. Check out Dröm. Mamma has died and landed in a pastry heaven!

A direct result of the pivot many cafes made through COVID, Dröm is the all-new artisanal bakery in the Bayswater region. "We started making bread, pies and pastries at our cafe next door (The Hatter and the Hare) during lockdown and it was just a hit, we've had to stop making them there now but we just kept getting people asking for it", says manager Becky Buada.