Little Sister Bakery opened its first store in Elsternwick in 2020, serving up its comforting Middle Eastern-style loaves, sesame bagels, challah and stuffed pita pockets to locals. Its owners, husband and wife Dov and Immy Lachovich Marcus, are originally from Israel and wanted to share foods from their upbringing with the community.

It’s clearly worked. The duo went on to open sibling outlets in Malvern and McKinnon, and the pocket-sized Elsternwick store still serves up many baked goods with a Middle Eastern twist. Among the many bread options, there’s multigrain on rye, a kalamata olive loaf, and a 72-hour fermented sourdough.

There are plenty of grab-and-go lunch options, too, including an exciting spin on the Israeli classic sabich. In Israel, it’s a traditionally open-facing pita pocket stuffed with potatoes, eggplant, chopped Israeli salad, soft boiled eggs and tahini. But here, the pita is sealed before baking, making it easy to eat at any time. Of course, there’s a spicy shakshuka-stuffed pita pocket too, served with pickled cucumbers and radish. A Middle Eastern influence can also be found in the bread twists topped with za’atar.

With grandparents from Russia, Poland and Bulgaria, Dov and Immy also have desserts inspired by their childhoods, including flaky apple strudel, and Jewish sweets including cheesecake babka and chocolate rugelach.