Miss Sina has only been open in Marrickville for a couple of weeks, but on weekends there are already lines of eager customers stretching out the door and around the corner. The bakery is the latest venture from Sina Klug and her partner, Jacques Dumont, who also own gluten-free bakery Nutie Donuts in Surry Hills and Balmain.
The new bakery’s product range is entirely vegan and was inspired by Klug’s desire to work with flour again. A vegan herself, Klug would come home from Nutie and make cinnamon scrolls to release stress. Soon, friends were asking for the scrolls, and after the pandemic hangover eased, and the building Klug had longed for became available, the couple figured it was time to open another bakery.
“Our concept is to kind of go back to my German roots, grandma-style,” Klug tells Broadsheet. “[To] make everything from scratch and by hand, using seasonal and local ingredients where we can, and just make wonderful pastries and cakes that just so happen to be vegan.”
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The selection of baked goods is a mix of German and French classics and Aussie favourites, with everything from traditional croissants and pain au chocolat, to doughnuts filled with jam and dusted with icing sugar, and cinnamon scrolls. Klug’s pick, and the overwhelming staff favourite, is a German pastry called a franzbrötchen.
“It’s kind of the love child of a cinnamon scroll and a croissant … the right amount of flaky and soft and squishy, filled with cinnamon butter,” says Klug.
The savoury menu changes from day to day, based on the fresh ingredients Klug and Dumont find at the market, but generally, freshly made focaccia is involved. Miss Sina also aims to be low-waste, so the chutneys and pates are usually made from veggie cut-offs. You might find a schnitzel sandwich, garlic bread pretzels, a meatball sub, a BLT, or a pizza croissant scroll. In typically meat-y dishes, the meat is replaced with seitan (a common meat replacement made from gluten).
The building, which is around the corner from Klug and Dumont’s home, has the kind of cosy, inviting atmosphere all bakeries should aspire to. Most of the furniture is second-hand, refurbished to fit the bakery’s homey style. The duo did splurge on the show kitchen – a glass cubicle where customers can watch the bakers in action – as well as the display cabinet where the baked goods proudly sit.
“I have been in love with this building for about five years,” says Klug (the space was previously a cafe). “I saw a year ago that it was available on the market … I said [to Dumont], no matter what it takes, I want you to get us this shop.”
Miss Sina joins the area’s burgeoning vegetarian and vegan dining scene, with Pizza Madre and Two Chaps both nearby. And it’s already cementing itself as a favourite in the “beautiful community” of Marrickville.
“At the moment our target market, obviously, is the vegan community, but we find that a lot of local families are having a really good time coming in … we had everyone here yesterday from [the ages of] about one to 96,” says Klug.
Miss Sina 132 Marrickville Road, Marrickville
Hours: Tue to Fri 7.30am–3.30pm Sat & Sun 8am–4pm
misssina.com.au @miss.sina.sydney