As far as the owner can tell, Saturdays is the only cafe in the country specialising in the beloved bread, baking five varieties. Its signature loaf has more protein and fewer kilojoules than the standard version.
In a leafy corner of suburban Dural, there’s a small cafe called Saturdays specialising in just one thing: thick slices of warm, toasted banana bread – the product of one man’s obsession, two years of recipe development and an international team of food scientists.
Saturdays bakes five varieties of banana bread, as takeaway loaves or for dine-in, slathered with coconut jam (kaya), drizzled with honey or lightly smeared with Vegemite. The signature “just banana” flavour is higher in protein and lower in kilojoules than the standard-issue version of the bread, but retains its familiar texture and flavour.
“To the best of our knowledge, we’re the only cafe in the country to specialise in banana bread,” says owner Denny Thomas.
“We’ve got people coming from Canberra, from Bondi, from everywhere and … to be honest with you, the majority of them are just here because of the taste, most don’t even know it’s low [in kilojoules].”
Thomas opened Saturdays to showcase the nutritional potential of banana bread, which he discovered during his weight loss journey in 2018.
“My co-founder and wife [Mahima Mathews] made a version of banana bread with less flour and less sugar, and I couldn’t believe it was [low in kilojoules] because it just tasted like, out of this world,” Thomas says.
“That was the moment everything completely changed for me … it turned into a whole obsession.”
Banana bread became Thomas’ singular focus, representing a sweet escape from the doldrums of poached chicken and steamed broccoli in his low kilojoule diet. He travelled across Sydney, taste-testing different banana breads from grocery stores, bakeries and cafes. Gradually, he realised they might be onto something.
“I said, if there’s something to this, and the product is really good, I think we have to share it with the world.”
But recreating the recipe at scale wasn’t easy. Thomas, who has a background in software development, struggled to maintain the right consistency when altering levels of sugar, oil and flour.
“I ended up working with [food] scientists from across the world, sending the recipe from Sydney to Brussels, and Brussels to Dubai, and Dubai to Melbourne,” he says.
“It went back and forth, back and forth, for 18 months … it was a very expensive exercise.”
The result, “just banana”, contains seven ingredients, nine grams of protein and 1586 kilojoules per 150-gram slice. Standard banana bread has between five and seven grams of protein, and between 2000 and 2500 kilojoules.
Bananas are sourced from a farm in Tully, Queensland, salvaging the “imperfect” produce that doesn’t meet the aesthetic standards of the major supermarkets from being sent to landfill.
Beyond “just banana”, the bread is available in chocolate, walnut, coconut and spiced rum flavours, with additional vegan and gluten-free options.
Since launching in 2023, Saturdays’ menu has grown to include a short list of sourdough toasties, croissants, matcha lattes and specialty coffee. A larger expansion is in the works, with Thomas looking to open a second location within the next 18 months.
Open breakfast and lunch daily
3/22-24 Kenthurst Road, Dural, cafesaturdays.com.au
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Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.
