Foli Bakery

Foli Bakery’s Campsie outpost wasn’t originally meant to be a customer-facing café. The space began life as a yoghurt wholesale business (an office out front, a meeting room behind) until locals kept stopping by to ask the same question: why wasn’t anyone selling baked goods here?

Listening to that community push, the team transformed the building into what is now the Foli Production Studio and bakery café, which opened to the public in August 2025.

The concept behind Foli is deliberately restrained. Rather than trend-driven pastries or ornate displays, the focus is on ingredient transparency and precise everyday baking.

“Foli was created to offer a refined, high-quality everyday space grounded in grains, transparency, and calm professionalism,” co-owner Oscar Lee tells Urban List. “We wanted to build something that felt missing in Sydney — a place with depth and craft, but without feeling exclusive or overly luxurious.”

Campsie is just one part of a longer-term vision. The Production Studio functions as the centre for daily bread baking, grain research and development, and future expansion—including an upcoming Darlinghurst restaurant and in-house soba noodle making that extends their grain exploration beyond bread.

That stripped-back philosophy carries through to the design. Original elements of the building are left largely intact, paired with natural materials and minimal finishes. Rather than styling for effect, the space is built around clarity, light and function.

On the menu, the signature is Shio Pan. Often called salt bread, Foli keeps its traditional name.

“We deliberately retained its original name because ‘salt bread’ has become an evolving trend with endless variations — Shio Pan represents its purest and most original form,” Oscar tells us.

It’s a simple hollow bread finished with butter and salt, crisp on the outside and soft inside, chosen specifically to showcase wheat flavour rather than laminated technique.

“In a city full of croissants and laminated pastries, we chose Shio Pan for its minimal structure and ability to express the true depth of wheat flavour — the more you chew, the more the grain comes through.”

Their dough blends single-origin Lancer flour from Provence Flour with stoneground Bakers Flour from Wholegrain Milling Co., selected for flavour, sustainability and traceability.

Drinks follow the same ingredient-first approach. Japanese influences show up in ceremonial-grade matcha and hojicha, alongside a signature iced coffee sweetened with house-made Madagascar vanilla syrup and coconut sugar. Seasonal specials rotate regularly, with recent offerings including shiso lime soda, sudachi soda and a brown-butter cream iced latte.

The experience Foli aims to create is intentional but accessible.

“We hope people feel an experience that is calm, natural, and quietly elevated — professional but never intimidating,” says Oscar.

“A space guests can return to often, where the craft is serious but the atmosphere is relaxed.”

There’s also a strong emphasis on working with local producers and Australian ingredients wherever possible—from single-origin flour sourced from North Star in NSW to Pepe Saya butter, La Barre olive oil and seasonal produce.

One of the biggest surprises for first-time visitors is the scale of what’s happening behind the café counter.

“Foli Campsie is not just a bakery café — our building holds our Production Studio too,” Oscar explains.

“It functions as the hub for daily bread production, long-term grain research and future expansion.”

Leading the bakery is head baker Yewon “Yenny” Yung, whose training spans Woosung University in South Korea and the Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie in Rouen, France. Her experience includes some of Seoul’s most respected bakeries, including Garuharu, Tartine Bakery Seoul, Maybell Bakery and URT Bakery & Eatery.

The broader flavour direction is shaped by French technique alongside Japanese restraint and minimalism—though the team doesn’t define Foli by a single cuisine.

“Our focus is on building something enduring,” Oscar shares. “A bakery culture grounded in ingredients, sustainability, and daily ritual.”

In Campsie, that now looks like a production studio, a neighbourhood café, and a steady stream of Shio Pan coming out of the oven each morning.

Image credit: Foli Bakery | Instagram