Luca Bakery, Castle Hill – SMH Good Food app listing

Castle Hill bakery where family recipes become specialties.

There’s a lot to pay attention to when you enter Luca Bakery: The air smells of toasted hazelnuts and brown butter, a handwritten sign names the local family who grew the peaches that adorn the thyme-dotted galette, the farmhouse-style counter displays super-sized raspberry marshmallows and cream-rich carrot cake.

Then there is the table that puts the recipes together. People leave them to the owner (and the old MasterChef winner) Larissa Takchi recreate in bakery ovens. A customer sent pages on how to prepare Maria Grammatico’s genovesi: lemon custard pastries made by the Italian chef trained in a monastery in Sicily. Takchi’s open invitation to contribute favorite and family recipes is part of the warm and inclusive atmosphere the bakery has exuded since its August opening.