Jocelyn’s Provisions, the Brisbane bakery known for its lamb and rosemary pie and its bar cakes, is celebrating 30 years in business. It started in a small shop on James Street in Fortitude Valley in 1996.
From a tiny shop to a James Street staple
According to James Street’s own history of the business, Jocelyn’s Provisions opened in 1996 in a small shop with a tiny kitchen next door, in what was then a light industrial neighbourhood. The lamb and rosemary pie, first made that year, is still a bestseller. Caitlin Gallagher and John Arba took over the business in 2008.
Moving out, coming back and rebuilding
In 2015 the bakery left its original home at Shop 8, Centro on James, to make way for The Calile Hotel. It traded from temporary spots on the street before returning in 2019 with a store at Ada Lane, beside The Calile.
The 2022 floods damaged the Albion kitchen and closed every Jocelyn’s store for four months. A Toowong store opened in 2025. James Street also says the business has a long-running partnership with OzHarvest, supplying products to charities.
Thirty years on
James Street says the team has grown from about 10 people in 2006 to more than 100, and that the bakery sells on average 7,000 of its chocolate sour cream cakes a year.
Jocelyn’s is marking the milestone with a year-long program that James Street says will include celebrity collaborations, exclusive menu items, archival recipes and giveaways. No dates or details for those have been published yet.
Related: NOMAD Brisbane to take over the old Gerard’s site on James Street
Sources: James Street Initiative, “30 Years of Jocelyn’s Provisions”, 22 October 2026.
