What’s a bombolone? Where do you get one? It’s fried pastry dough with cream filling and a dusting of powdered sugar on top (i.e. fancy doughnut). You can find them at the same place that you can find passionfruit cheesecake, carrot cupcakes, garibaldi, and shelves piled high with authentic artisan loaves of bread. No, it’s not heaven, but you’re close; it’s Dench Bakers in North Fitzroy.

Dench is a bakery, patisserie, and café. Their bread is made in-house with certified organic flour and natural yeasts. Their bakers adhere to the European methods, hand-molding the dough and baking the loaves on an open hearth. They supply some of Melbourne’s prestigious cafés and restaurants with beautiful crusty loaves, so perhaps you’ve munched on some Dench bread without even realising it!

Their sweet treats are picture perfect and they taste even prettier. Like the bread, all pastries are made on the premises. However, unlike the bread, they are sold exclusively at Dench and made in small batches that sell out fast. It’s not uncommon for the more popular treats (chocolate-date muffins, bamboloni, almond croissants) to sell out halfway through the day, so don’t dilly dally.

As a café, Dench offers breakfast, lunch, and coffee. The dining area is bright, open, and bustling, and waiters wear button-up shirts and ties that add a snappy touch to the casual atmosphere. The menu consists of classics as well as some quirky dishes you mightn’t have come across in your travels; or, if you want something quick, there’s a fridge displaying baguette sandwiches, which are bursting with fillings of all descriptions.

When you get around to going, you’ll quickly join the legions of Dench followers that make pilgrimages to North Fitzroy to get their bread and bomboloni.