When it comes to pies, the team at Farrar & Sons Bakehouse in Mayfield like to keep their customers guessing.
Yes, you can order a plain beef, but why not try the cheeseburger, the chicken and Camembert, the macaroni and cheese with smoky bacon, the bangers and mash, the honey soy chicken, or the Ned Kelly (slow-cooked beef with egg, bacon and cheese)?
They like to experiment with their pull-apart bread, too, but still have all of your traditional bakery favourites covered - tasty treats like apple turnovers, vanilla slices, custard tarts and apple pies can be found in the display cabinet until sold out.
Scott and Sally Farrar run the bakehouse with their son Tristan and his partner Jess. Scott is a qualified chef and Tristan started a bakery apprenticeship at Cooranbong at the age of 16. He is now 28, a qualified baker and a father of four boys.
"Tristan has always talked about owning his own bakery and my husband and I said if we were ever in a position to help him, we would," Sally explained.
"So mid-last year Tristan saw Papa Al's was up for sale. We came up and had a look, and thought it was a great location.
"We all sat down and talked about it, talked about what things we would do and what we would call our bakery. The name Farrar & Sons incorporates Tristan's boys and our other three sons."
A relative of Scott's owned Farrar's Bakery in Islington. It was located on Watson Street and started trading in 1886. Curious, the family did some research.
"The bakery owner was Tomkins John Farrar. We found some old articles and photos and one of the photos was of an old-fashioned cart with TJ Farrar on it," Sally said.
"We all got goosebumps as they are Tristan's initials. It was at that point we knew it was meant to be."
The Farrars took over the wholesale bakery in Mayfield in January and opened the shopfront to the public in late May.
"We were determined to open by June," Sally said.
"Tristan and I baked every night and Tristan's partner Jess would clean the shop to get it ready to open. We started organising and designing signage - we didn't want to open until our signs were up.
"Tristan wanted us to be known as an old-fashioned bakery. Customers love seeing things they used to have when they were kids."
Listening to customers and their suggestions is important to the Farrars. Many unique flavour combinations are discovered this way. Some make it onto the weekly specials list, others the menu itself.
Sally's father used to own a shop on the Central Coast, Wyong Lunch Box, where he made his own pies.
"Tristan loved his pies and years ago said to my Dad 'When I get my own shop I want to do your pies, Grandpa'. And here we are today. We have 13 standard pies and seven Grandpa pies," she said.
"Grandpa comes into the bakehouse three days a week to make his special fillings.
"Scott, being a chef, knows what goes with what and loves to experiment. He does the fillings and Tristan does the pastry.
"Some of the most popular pies are the cheese and bacon, the steak diane and the lamb and rosemary. We slow-cook our pie meat for eight hours until it falls apart."
Whatever the Farrars are doing, they're doing right. Sally says they've had "nothing but positive feedback" from customers.
"They love the prices, the free sauce and the freshness of everything," she said.
"Our bread is baked fresh every day and is still good four days later."
A lot of hard work goes into starting a new business, and even more so with a bakery. The hours are long and the starts are early.
"The three of us are doing 14-hour days, seven days a week, but it's worth it," Sally said.
"We couldn't be happier with how it's all going, and we are looking forward to getting our salad bar and coffee machine in the next couple of months. We want to be known for our bread as well as our pies.
"Scott and I are so proud of Tristan; he is a hard-working young man who wants to do the best he can for his family. We are just here to give him a head start."
