My Sydney: cafés, coffee and pastries
Volume one
Before I wrote about blush and failing relationships, I wrote about food. First for my own blog (may she rest in peace), then for a small online publication where I was the food writer, and then for Delicious – my first full-time job right out of uni.
Years later, bread and butter is no longer my 9-5, but it is a huge part of my life away from work. I love visiting new bars, booking restaurants to try with my friends, and venturing to different suburbs on Sunday mornings to tick off a different café. My maps are littered with pins, in every city I visit, and I have a colour-coded system to differentiate between the Want to Trys, and the Favourites.
I love the thought that each of us has our own little life, and our own little list of pins, which sometimes overlap, on street corners and sunlit benches, where we gather over croissant and cappuccino. I often think about the baristas in the cafés near my house who see their regulars day in and day out, for quick coffees and takeaways on the way to work, only to sometimes spot them together.
Do they invent narratives for the girl in the puffer jacket and the one in the coat, who walk down the street together on Tuesday afternoons? What about the elderly couple who come in an hour apart each morning, but always visit together on the weekends? My Sydney is different to your Sydney is different to theirs, but I like the idea that some of it we have in common.
All that to say, I’ve been feeling nostalgic. And 9 hours spent in the window seat flying to and from Perth earlier this week seemed like as good a time as any to put pen to paper, and start cataloguing my favourite spots around the city.
So, if you’re into good pastries, quiet mornings, dark, moody bars or restaurants with something worth saying – I think you’ll like this list. And if you’ve ever seen me post the corner of a menu and vaguely wondered where it is, the answers are probably in here.
I’m going to break this down into different segments: cafés, bars, restaurants to start. Then maybe some other categories to follow. Shops? Beaches? Other cities? Other countries?! Only time will tell.
Now, a disclaimer: most of these recommendations belong to the Inner East and Inner West. No, that is not all that Sydney had to offer. Yes, it is the Sydney I spend most of my time in. I apologise for my shortcomings.
Have a read and let me know what you think in the comments. Did I miss any must-gos? What’s on your list? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
More lists, pins and pics asap,
Hx
Cafés: coffee, pastries and breakfast
For a lazy Saturday bagel in the sun: Avner’s Bakery, Surry Hills
For morning batch brew and an Iggy’s croissant, or a lunchtime iced latte: Primary, Potts Point
For a tasting plate and batch brew in a beautifully designed space by YSG Studio: SuperFreak, Marrickville. (Note: If you’ve dated anyone from the Inner West, you will see them here. Consider yourself warned, and wear sunglasses)
When you want coffee, a brownie and afternoon sun: Huxton’s, Bronte
For top-tier baked goods, great coffee and refined breakfast: A.P Bread & Wine, Darlinghurst (Do not skip the carrot cake)
For an Italian birthday coffee and a biscotti with your parents and it’s winter so your dad doesn’t want to sit outside: Barbetta, Paddington
To sit in near-silence in the sun with your best friend and a batch brew before ultimately running into an ex’s family member: Soulmate, Newtown
For a cosy coffee and rainy days: The Grumpy Baker, Potts Point. Please order the ruglach or a borek
When you need to take someone visiting for a quintessentially Sydney meal: Bills, Surry Hills
When you can be fucked going to Annandale for cherry pie and a slice of foccacia pizza: Cherry Moon General Store, Annandale
When you’re shopping on Crown Street and do want a snack but don’t feel like proper lunch: Royale, Surry Hills
When it’s a Monday morning and you love great food but you live locally and hate the crowds who have ruined Llankelly Place on the weekends: Room 10 and Piña, Potts Point. Order the Caponata (tomato and eggplant with straciatella on toast), the bagel (cream cheese and chives on an everything bagel), or the Deb (avocado and feta on toast with jammy egg).
For a finger bun that will renew your will to live between meetings: Humble Bakery, Surry Hills
When you need to sit in silence by the water with a coffee: The Lookout at Beare Park, Elizabeth Bay
For excellent food in a boutique hotel and you’re not in a rush because there’s a stupidly long wait time: Paramount Coffee Project, Surry Hills
For diner-style breakfast: Valentina’s, Marrickville (another hot spot for run-ins with men you’ve still got feelings for and now can’t make eye contact with. Order bottomless filter coffee and remain unfazed)
For onigiri and iced matcha lattes and surprisingly excellent muffins: Parami, edge of Surry Hills and CBD
For a bakery take on Australiana classics like cheesymite scrolls and lamingtons: Good Ways Deli, Alexandria
To sit with a book and coffee on your own outside (but covered): La Bomba, Potts Point. If you’re staying for food, get the Green Toast – romesco, halloumi, charred broccolini, perfection.
Coffee and brownie always