If you’re into excellent croissants and inventive viennoiserie (think chocolate fondant croissants), you’ll have heard of Penny for Pound. Pastry chef, Matilda Smith, and her partner in life and business, Ben Wilson opened their original hole in the wall shop in Richmond in 2018. They quickly garnered a following and Penny for Pound became the go-to spot for Richmond locals craving the perfect croissant fix. What’s even better, croissants are baked three times daily, at 8am, 10am and midday, so if you time it right, you can get a warm, buttery croissant straight from the oven. The pair then went on to expand their business to a shop in Camberwell, a new space in Richmond when the old place was no longer available and a 100-square-meter HQ in Moorabbin's Morris Moor precinct. It’s not all about the croissants anymore. With two production kitchens, a 130-seat cafe, and a dine-in menu that caters to every palate, it’s an impressive operation. Matilda took me for a tour of the kitchens and then we sat down and had a chat about how she got into it, where she gets her inspiration and how much she loves teaching and passing on her knowledge. Matilda changes the menu monthly at Penny for Pound and coming up, there will be a chocolate fondant croissant for Valentine’s Day and then hot cross buns: traditional, single origin chocolate, coffee using coffee from Axil and a sticky date and caramel. In addition, Matilda and Ben have opened Holla Gelato next door to the Moorabbin store and Matilda is working on a hot cross bun ice cream sandwich which will have burnt butter and salted honey gelato in the middle of a toasted hot cross bun. I’ll leave that with you.