Two weeks ago, Gareth Whitton and partner Catherine Way learnt that the Cremorne site of their cult bakery Tarts Anon was to be demolished.

“I probably shouldn’t be so surprised, there’s been a lot of chatter. Cremorne is having a huge change,” Whitton tells Broadsheet, a former Dinner by Heston head pastry chef and the Dessert Masters season one winner. “A lot of old warehouses like ours are being taken over or knocked down or sold en masse.”

The Collingwood store will remain open as usual, and the hunt for a new site is underway. The Cremorne shop, which has operated since 2022 and and is where all Tarts Anon products are currently produced (including those for Collingwood), is expected to trade until Thursday March 13 – the team needs to be out the following day. While plans for the final days are still being firmed up, the idea is to go out with some big days of trade. “Not for any grand sentimental gesture. We want to line the pockets so we can inject it back into the right site,” says Whitton.

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Prior to the news that the Cremorne space had to be vacated, the team was making plans to start scaling the business – something still in the works. “I want to see this as an opportunity to keep that momentum going, and basically be forced to get out of my comfort zone sooner –
we aren’t stopping,” says Whitton, who is gearing up for a Tarts Anon pop-up at the Arts Centre’s Protagonist cafe from Thursday February 20 to Monday March 10 as part of Asia Topa.

Tarts Anon at 29a Gwynne Street, Cremorne is expected to close on Thursday March 13, 2025.