A former F1 engineer-turned-pastry chef's weekend guide to Melbourne

Kate Reid has become known for making the best croissants outside of Paris. She shares her tips for spending a weekend in her hometown during the F1 Grand Prix or beyond.

Melbourne – Australia's most populous city since 2023 – is famous for its sunny beaches and thriving cultural scene; its diverse neighbourhoods home to an intriguing blend of Victorian-era monuments and skyscrapers.

We spoke to Dr Kate Reid – the mastermind behind the massively popular Melbourne-based bakeshop Lune Croissanterie – for her insider recommendations on spending a perfect weekend in this vibrant city. Luckily, according to Reid, there's no shortage of things to do.

"We're so spoiled with having so many wonderful things on," says Reid, whose signature croissants are widely regarded the best outside of Paris. "For a city that's almost one of the most southern points in the world, we've got things like the F1 Australian Grand Prix, which is such a privilege. From an events perspective, we're incredibly lucky in Melbourne on a day-to-day basis."

Reid is more than just a casual Grand Prix fan; the Melbourne native was a Formula 1 aerodynamics engineer before shifting gears to croissant making. "It doesn't sound like a natural overlap," says Reid. "But engineers in general are problem solvers. And baking is incredibly scientific."

Reid, who has dominated career fields traditionally associated with men, doesn't see her success as boy versus girl: "I just love Formula 1," she says. "It was competitive, but it wasn't competitive male to female, it was just competitive across the board. In terms of being the best, it's just ingrained in me that if I do something, I just need to do it the best I possibly can."

Reid's parallel careers have finally intersected: at the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Lune Croissanterie will be hosting a pop up at the Melbourne Albert Park Circuit serving its warm, freshly made croissants, and Reid herself will serve as an Ambassador. "It's this total full circle moment for me," says Reid. "The prospect of someone sitting in the grandstand watching Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri fly by at 300km an hour while they're eating a Lune croissant… that's magic to me. I can't wait to see the little paper bag with the rocket on it walking around the circuit."

Here are Kate Reid's favourite ways to spend a weekend in her beloved hometown of Melbourne.

1. Best way to get a feel for everyday life in Melbourne: A run on the Tan

Reid's number one pick for experiencing the "real" Melbourne is to hit the Tan. "That's our botanical gardens," she says. "It's this 4km loop that many people walk or run every morning as their daily exercise."

Melbourne's most popular running track, the Tan is a path looping around the Kings Domain parklands and the sprawling 38-hectare Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria with its 8,500 varieties of domestic and exotic plants. "I think it's a really nice way to feel like a Melbournian," says Reid. "To land at the Botanic Gardens somewhere on the main road, pick up a coffee from one of the restaurants along there and just walk a lap at the Tan sipping a coffee and planning out your day and looking at everyone's chosen activewear and their dog. It's a really nice way to start the day."

Website: https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/melbourne-gardens/

Address: 5X9J+W3 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61392522300

Instagram: @royalbotanicgardensvic

 2. Best cultural experience(s): The NGV and Royal Exhibition Building

For a thoughtful pause, try soaking up Melbourne's thriving cultural scene. "We've got amazing museums and galleries," says Reid. "The NGV on St Kilda Road is probably our major gallery in Victoria and they get all of the international exhibitions."

The NGV (National Gallery of Victoria), founded in 1861, is Melbourne's most historical and significant art gallery, home to over 76,000 works of ancient and contemporary art. "They do celebrate local artists too," says Reid. "And you can easily spend half a day just wandering around the NGV appreciating old and new local and international art."

Reid also recommends a visit to the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens, a Victorian complex built between 1879-1880 to commemorate the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. "[It] often has great events or exhibitions on up there," says Reid. "There's this big dome in the middle of the building with a walkway around the top. They've opened the dome walk to the public, so you can actually go up to the top of the dome and get 360-degree views over to the CBD and across the Carlton and Fitzroy [neighbourhoods]– and that's a really beautiful experience as well. It's a really unique viewpoint of the city."

Website: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/

Address: 5XG9+XH Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61386202222

Instagram: @ngvmelbourne

3. Best neighbourhood base: Fitzroy, the CBD and South Yarra

Melbourne has no shortage of thriving neighbourhoods to explore, but for a quick weekend stay, Reid favours her home suburb, Fitzroy. "It's the alternative creative," says Reid. "It's gentrified, but it's still got hints of grittiness to it. There's great vintage clothing, good bakeries, cafes, wine bars, little galleries that are independent. And you're just a 1km walk or tram ride into the city."

In the city proper, Reid suggests staying in the CBD. "Melbourne CBD is unique in that where the high-rise buildings are, there's an awful lot of culture," says Reid. "Staying in the CBD, you're close to everything and then it's easy to go out to the neighbourhoods because the public transport's really good." Reid likes a good wander around the CBD's independent designer fashion and jewellery shops: "There's wonderful laneways with little bars that you can drop into. There's this place called HuTong Dumpling Bar, which is one of my favourites."

Reid also recommends staying in South Yarra, "if you are a little bit into more things like designer shopping. [It's] where the Tan is, as well," she says. "Chapel Street has a lot of design stores on it – and also lots of great cafes and restaurants, too."

4. Best for exploring Melbourne's culinary scene: Flinders Lane

Reid, whose croissants famously draw block-long queues, has a deep appreciation for her hometown's food scene. "I think based on the fact that we are further South, the produce and the seasonality of beautiful ingredients is used a lot in our restaurants," she says.

Her one-stop gourmet hop is Flinders Lane, a narrow lane in the CBD lined with numerous restaurants and bars. "I don't know if there's a better strip of food venues in the entire world," says Reid. "There's also little laneways that shoot off it that have amazing street art and graffiti, so you can really immerse yourself in that creative artistic side of Melbourne."

Reid's favourite Flinders Lane dining spots are all helmed by chef Andrew McConnell, starting with modern Australian restaurant Cumulus Inc. "My favourite thing about Cumulus is sitting up at the kitchen bar and watching the chefs work," says Reid. "It's a completely open kitchen and they just hand the dishes over to you which I love." Reid also enjoys Supernormal Restaurant, a swank eatery serving Asian fusion dishes like Gippsland striploin roasted kimchi and spring onion. "It's such a fun restaurant," says Reid. "Bustling, the food's amazing. And for such a big place, it can still feel intimate."

But Reid's "perfect night out" on Flinders Lane starts with a pre-dinner drink at Apollo Inn cocktail bar and ends with a meal at its parent restaurant, French bistro Gimlet at Cavendish House. "[Apollo Inn's] cocktail menu opens with their selection of martinis," says Reid. "There are so many different variations, and they've acknowledged that with a full list of different martinis done to the highest standard." Head on to Gimlet; ranked 84 on 2022's World's Best Restaurants longlist. "It's absolutely amazing," says Reid. "You can have beautiful eye filet steak, lobster… and then they do more modern Australian, maybe like a burrata with you know, seasonal tomatoes. That changes as it goes into winter to be something more appropriate."

Website: https://gimlet.melbourne/

Address: 5XM9+JP Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61392779777

Instagram: @gimlet.melbourne

5. Best outdoor experience: Catching an AFL game at MCG

Melbourne's sporty sensibilities don't end with the Australian Grand Prix; Melbourne also hosts the Australian Open and is home to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), Australia's largest and most historic sports stadium. "I was a massive AFL (Australian Football League) football fan growing up," says Reid. "[It] was religion for me to go and stand with 80 or 90,000 other screaming fans watching this version of football... I really encourage people to try and get a ticket to go to the MCG because it's such an amazing stadium. And when you get two Melbourne teams playing against each other there, it's like I imagine it would be like going to Old Trafford in the UK and seeing Manchester United play. There are some stadiums in the world that are just worth it."

Reid notes that there are "like eight or nine football matches playing every weekend" when football season is on from late February to the end of September. "So, there's heaps of opportunity to go," she says. "It's just it's a really Melbourne experience to go watch a football match."

Website: https://www.mcg.org.au/

Address: 5XJM+29 Richmond, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61396578888

Instagram: @mcg

6. Best for enjoying Melbourne's wine bar culture: Embla

Wind down from days of culture, football and shopping with a sophisticated tipple at one of Melbourne's many beautiful wine bars. "I think Melbourne in Australia is home to the small intimate wine bar," says Reid. "I guess because the weather is a little bit cooler down south in Melbourne we gravitate towards that small intimate wine bar culture. You could spend an entire year going to different ones dotted around Melbourne and experiencing different menus and different experts with the wine." 

For wine bars in Melbourne proper, Reid likes Embla in the CBD, run by chef Dave Verheul and wine purveyor Christian McCabe. "I think it's one of the best," she says of the stylish, industrial-chic bar, famed for its extensive wine list and excellent food. "I was chatting to the owner of it when he first opened it. I said, it feels like this wine bar has always been here and it's the one that I've been looking for. And he said, 'Well, it's funny – before I opened Embla something like this didn't exist. I just created the wine bar that I wished existed that I could go and sit in.'" 

Melbourne's wine culture spreads beyond city limits. "Obviously because of where Melbourne is located. We've got some beautiful wine regions around the city as well," says Reid. "We've got the Yarra Valley, the Mornington Peninsula, and in more recent years, the Bellarine Peninsula wineries have popped up around here so a lot of restaurants and wine bars in Melbourne celebrate the local wine production, which is really beautiful as well."

Website: https://embla.com.au/

Address: 122 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Phone: +61455122121

Instagram: @embla_melbourne

BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

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