It's long been one of the only things that regularly lures us outside the city's borders, but now Red Door Bakery is adding a city shopfront to its Croydon and Goodwood locations we won't need to cross the terraces so often.

Expansion has been slow and measured for the family-run Red Door Bakery, which started its life when chef Gareth Grierson and his hospitality-veteran wife Emma decided to try something different.

Their first location in Croydon attracted an immediate and loyal following as word of Gareth’s high quality pastry goods spread. The lentil pies, lamb and eggplant sausage rolls, naturally leavened bread and housemade chilli jam attracted repeat customers and the level of trade soon outgrew the size of the kitchen on site.

Moving into a bigger offsite kitchen meant Gareth could cater for a second shop – if he just slept a little (quite a lot) less and baked a little more. So, two-and-a-half years after opening Croydon, the couple opened a shop on King William Road in Goodwood.

Almost the same amount of time has passed again, but now Gareth and Emma are finally in their last weeks of preparation before opening the doors on a new city location at 19 Grenfell Street, Adelaide. Some of the lapse in time, says Gareth, is a result of wanting to wait to find the right place.

“We were looking for quite a while,” he says. “This is a green accredited building which we’re really happy with. And the landlords are really accommodating… after talking with them we thought it was a good match.  They’re not your typical corporate landlord – they wanted something different, not a big national chain but something local.”

Opening a third location makes sense for Gareth as it will create a more even rhythm in his daily baking. While the Croydon and Hyde Park shops are busiest on weekends, the city store will do a more substantial weekday trade, and Gareth and the others in the kitchen will have a regular daily output instead of peaks and troughs.

To support the city store, Gareth and Emma will employ a few more kitchen staff – and they will most likely be looking for people with a chef background, not bakers.

“We’re going against the grain of most bakeries – we’re starting to train chefs as bakers rather than employ traditional bakers,” says Gareth.

“It’s a different skill-set and it sits better with out product – it’s easier to maintain quality and consistency with the chef skills for what we do.”

The ever-cheerful Holly Prior – who started her relationship with Red Door working in the kitchen when they first opened – will be moving from her current role front of house at Croydon to manage the city store. With her welcoming smile and the prospect of Angus Beef Pies and Salted Caramel Chocolate Bricks within reach of the office, the two or so weeks before the doors open can hardly pass quick enough.