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From F1 To Flaky Perfection: How Kate Reid Built The Cult Of Lune Croissants

The Lune founder opens up about turning aerodynamics into artistry, building Australia’s most iconic croissant brand and her future plans.

| Isha Mayer
Lune

Before my trip to Melbourne this January, I did what most food-obsessed travellers do: ask for restaurant recommendations. The lists varied wildly, but there was one name that kept popping up: Lune. Everyone had the same piece of advice too – “Get there early morning, the queues are no joke.”

Days later, midway through a food trail in Melbourne, I finally made my way to Lune. I couldn’t make it in the morning, so I braced myself for the inevitable wait –  about 35 minutes, to be exact. As I edged closer, the whiff of the fresh butter and pastry filled the air. Despite several pit stops that day, my appetite had returned. Inside, a neat display of six croissants beckoned—but my eyes locked instantly on the classic, and the ham and gruyère. One bite, and I knew: it was absolutely worth the wait.

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Ham and Gruyère Croissant

A few months later, I found myself on a call with Kate Reid, the aerodynamicist-turned-baker behind Lune. And much like her pastries, her story is layered, precise, and full of surprises.

From Pit Lane To Pastry 

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Kate Reid

Before she became Australia’s croissant queen, Reid was living a different dream – one of aerodynamics, speed and Formula One. “Growing up, I loved watching motorsports. First of all, it was a way for me to spend time with my dad, but very early on, I realised that it was a sport I just loved. I loved the adrenaline, speed, technology, glamour, the drama, and I decided that I wanted to design cars. So I went and studied aerospace engineering at RMIT University, Melbourne.” A year out of university, Reid landed her dream job with the UK’s Williams F1 team as an aerodynamicist. But she quickly realised that the fantasy didn’t quite match the reality.

“What I imagined was a dynamic, collaborative environment, but it was isolating and quite toxic,” she shares candidly. The pressure and disillusionment took a toll, leading to depression and later an eating disorder. “Ironically, with an eating disorder, you think about comfort food all the time, and I always loved baked goods. So I started baking at night just to feel joy again.”

Those baking sessions – initially focused on brownies, biscuits, and simple cakes – became a form of therapy. “I’d bring them into work, and for those few minutes, the office felt like the place I wished it could be. That’s the power of baked goods.”

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Kate Reid

Eventually, Reid returned to Melbourne to recover. “I thought, maybe this thing that’s brought me so much joy, which is baking, could become something more.” And just like that, the idea of Lune was born.

The name “Lune” is a nod to the French phrase croissant de lune—a tribute to the pastry’s crescent shape. 

Baking As Science And Soul

One might find Reid’s pivot from F1 to pastry-making unlikely, but there are parallels between building a race car and crafting a perfect croissant. She admits she knew very little about croissant-making when she started. But she approached it as an engineer. “I reverse-engineered the process, using what I knew to improve on the traditional French technique.” That precise, methodical approach paired with obsessive attention to detail is what made Lune what it is today.

Lune produces between 38,000 to 40,000 pastries weekly across stores in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, and the croissants are sold out daily. Despite this scale, wastage is minimal. “Even the almond croissant is rooted in sustainability—it was originally a French solution to repurpose unsold plain croissants,” she explains.

From Scones To The Stars

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Morning Bun

Although croissants are the hero, Reid lights up when she talks about scones. “People always ask about croissants, but I love making scones. My recipe is a game-changer – light, buttery, and ready in 15 minutes.” Her favourite cake? “Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It’s nostalgic and celebratory.”

In terms of indulgence, she admits to favouring Lune’s ham and gruyère croissant (“It’s heaven fresh out of the oven”) and the cinnamon-orange morning bun. “That’s what I had for breakfast today.” 

Making Croissants Experiential 

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The Lune Lab

Besides the Lune outposts across Australia, The Lune Lab in Melbourne is the place to be, especially if the science and making behind croissants intrigues you. The Lune Lab is a three-course, degustation-style experience that fuses culinary imagination with seasonal flair.   “It’s where we get to be playful. We’ve done Greek lamb souvlaki croissants, pulled pork versions—it’s very Melbourne,” Reid says. The Lab also allows for regional expression. “Our fruit danishes vary depending on what’s in season locally—Brisbane might use mangoes while Melbourne leans into stone fruits.”

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The Lune Lab

There’s even a pastry R&D manual now, guiding chefs on what makes a product truly Lune. But not all experiments have worked. “I tried doing a honeycomb cruffin once. Total disaster,” she laughs. Speaking of cruffins (a cross between a croissant and muffin), did you know Lune was the first to introduce them? 

Building The Brand And Guarding It

Reid never expected her brand to become the institution it is today. “When I first started it, I'd come back from France and I'd been able to taste what a true croissant was in Paris. No one was making good croissants in Melbourne; it was merely a token item on the menu at bakeries. I wanted to show Australia what a really good croissant should be like.” And that’s when she started perfecting the recipe. “I think it's the power of just wanting to do something you love. If you love what you're doing, other people will love it too, and then suddenly, you've got a queue around the block and you can't make enough!” she says with a smile. 

Reid is deeply aware of the brand’s emotional pull. “You can’t write a business plan for success,” she says. “A brand is built through reputation, through love. And once it exists, you have to protect it.”

While her brother and business partner champion growth, Reid keeps a constant check on quality. “If it were just me, Lune would still be one tiny bakery. If it were just him, there might be Lunes everywhere—but maybe it wouldn't have the same level of exclusivity that it does because we hold growth and quality in the same sphere, and ultimately we've only ever grown when we know that we've got the resource, strength and experience behind us to maintain that quality.”

For Reid, every morning starts with a coffee run and a product check at the Russell Street store, often with her Labrador in tow. “I’m still the guardian of the product. No one understands a Lune croissant like I do.”

What’s Next? 

Reid also launched Moon, a cruller-focused spin-off. These hybrid, choux-based, doughnut-shaped croissants—similar to churros in texture—are filled and dipped in dulce de leche.  “It’s been a pop-up for a while, but now it’s getting a permanent home in Melbourne. It’s time it got the full Lune treatment.”

This October, Reid’s remarkable transformation—from high-pressure aerodynamics to one of the world’s most celebrated bakeries—will be chronicled in her memoir. “It’s a more in-depth look at my life, my time in Formula One, and how I found happiness again through pastry.”

Though international expansion is still up in the air, Reid has a wish list. “London and New York are dream cities—they understand quality. Tokyo’s perfectionism is a great match for Lune. And imagine opening in Paris, the home of the croissant!” When I suggest India, Reid lights up. “So many people have told me that. I’d love to come to Mumbai. I’ve never been to India, and I think it’s time.” Here’s hoping India gets its taste of Lune very soon. Till then, all I can do is plan my next trip to Australia to get a bite of Lune’s buttery, crispy croissants once again!

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