On the Rise at The Kin Kin Hotel
Some things are worth the drive. Deb Caruso discovers why people are making the weekly pilgrimage to The Kin Kin Hotel to get their fix of freshly-baked sourdough goodness.
Every Thursday to Sunday from 8am, the smell of freshly-baked bread and just-out-of-the-oven pastries drifts from The Bakehouse through the hinterland air to have locals lining up and regulars rearranging their weekends.
The Bakehouse is one of the key ingredients in what owners David and Ellie Ezrine call the Kin Kin Collective – a vision radiating outward from the beautifully restored Kin Kin Hotel.
“We put our energy and focus into getting The Kin Kin Hotel right and it has taken a lot to make it thrive,” says David. “Everything we do radiates from the Hotel – the accommodation, the market garden, The Woodshed, the Pub Pavilion, the Heritage Bar and the Bakehouse – it all comes together as a collective,” says David. “Like growing an oak tree – you have to do it slowly.”
David’s goal was clear from the start: find exceptional culinary talent, bring them to Kin Kin to live and work, and give them the space and freedom to pursue artisan food with passion and purpose.
Enter Kirsty and Richard Mundt – a chef duo who swapped brigade life for bakery benches but never lost their knife skills. Being chefs first and bakers second is their secret ingredient. It means every loaf and pastry packs restaurant-level punch – bold flavours, clever techniques, zero shortcuts. They met while training at the legendary Brett’s Wharf under Alastair McLeod, part of a brigade servicing 200 seats and events for up to 3,000 people – the kind of place that shapes instincts, builds stamina and teaches you to chase flavour above all else.
Kirsty’s career is a pastry masterclass in motion. Working with the likes of David Pugh, Phil Johnson, Michelin man Mathias Anderson, Adriano Zumbo and Richard Ousby, Will Cowper, and Alanna Sapwell; a Valrhona chocolate pilgrimage to Japan working with the world’s number one pastry chef at the time, Claire Hisler, and flexing her creativity at Stanley at the Howard Smith Wharves.
But it was at Agnes Bakery where pastries went from side hustle to superstar and lines of customers were out the door.
“At Agnes Bakery, pastry was the main product and I just fell in love with it,” Kirsty says.
Richard’s journey was equally varied – from Azafrán in Annerley, to Café Sydney, Aquitaine Brasserie at South Bank under Damon Porter as sous chef, then Goodness Gracious Café in Graceville, which he transformed into a breakfast blueprint serving gluten and dairy-free restaurant-grade dishes to 126 seats daily. Stints at Bruno’s, Maillard in the city, and finally Agnes Bakery where he took over bread production, baking in a wood-fired oven from 2am.
In culinary serendipity, David came in to research the woodfired oven. They talked, David saw the talent, and an invitation to Kin Kin followed. The couple had already discussed wanting their (now 11-year-old) daughter Olive to grow up outside the city.
“When we saw David’s vision for everything here in Kin Kin it was easy to say ‘yes’,” Richard said.
Richard’s approach to sourdough is the product of years of obsessive research. His loaves ferment for 48 hours with no bread improvers, no commercial yeast, no additives – just a 100% sourdough base working slowly and naturally. The result is bread that is easier on the stomach, richer in flavour and extraordinary in texture, with a shelf life extended by a 90% hydration rate.
The flagship Heritage Loaf blends heritage flour, whole grain emmer and stone-ground spelt – no modern wheat in sight. There’s also a 100% spelt loaf and a gluten-free sourdough that is arguably Richard’s greatest achievement. Using his own proprietary gluten-free flour blend – developed over 10 years, with just flour, water, salt and a little cereal husk – it tastes and behaves like real bread without reading like a science experiment on the label.
If Richard rules the bread, Kirsty commands the pastry section with authority born from serious professional kitchens. Her signature ham and cheese croissant is anything but ordinary – the béchamel is made old-school, milk infused with onion, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves, then finished with gruyère, pecorino and Swiss, the ham from Noosa Meat Co.
“I’m trying to get across all those chef touches,” she says. “It’s more than ham and cheese.”
The potato and garlic pastry involves hand-sliced potatoes poached in garlic and thyme, then encased in buttery pastry. The dulce de leche banana chantilly is pure, unapologetic indulgence. The guava cake uses an almond base with fruit purées; the gluten-free brownie uses Richard’s flour blend with chocolate from Cuvée in Melbourne, hand-made using the finest imported cacao. When the hotel’s market garden overflows – chard, leeks, whatever the season dictates – the menu shifts accordingly.
“We let the harvest call the shots – low waste, peak freshness,” Kirsty says.
The Bakehouse is woven into the fabric of the Kin Kin Collective. Kirsty and Richard work closely with Oscar Holgado, the Michelin-pedigreed head chef, sharing produce and ideas across every menu delighting diners with a degustation at The Woodshed, elevating the concept of ‘a pub lunch’ at The Pub Pavilion and sharing produce, ideas and seasonal produce to shape what lands on the plate. Oscar’s pork – broken down in-house from scratch – goes into their sausage rolls. It’s a genuine collaboration where everything, as David puts it, “touches everything.”
“This is the real deal,” says David. “These guys are doing it from the ground up in a way that is quality and there’s no compromise. That’s what gets them up in the morning – to make something memorable.”
About 400 pastries head out the door each week across four trading days, plus a couple of hundred loaves – and they always sell out. The next chapter involves workshops – hands-on sessions on sourdough, pastry techniques, charcuterie and more. Visit the website for the Easter workshop details.
Plans are in motion for a Noosa outpost: sourdough and pastries, curated sandwiches by day; housemade tapas and wine by night. All the flavour-forward, chef-driven thinking closer to home.
In the meantime, the only thing rising faster than Richard’s sourdough is the reputation of what Kirsty, Richard, Oscar and the entire Kin Kin Collective are quietly, carefully building in the hills. Punch Kin Kin into the GPS, order ahead and watch the collective rise.
Take a peak inside our Summer launch in the stunning Woolshed at the Kin Kin Hotel!
