If you look carefully at the cafes that’ve opened this year, you’ll notice that chef-led cafe cafes have had something of a comeback. Kitchen talents from Rockpool, Russo & Russo, Baba’s Place and Ricos Tacos have taken on the day shift, and the results are exciting.

Plus, young indie bakers have debuted their first permanent spots, and specialty coffee continues to woo us.

The following 11 cafes are the best this year’s brought so far – see you out there.

Cafe Lewi, Lewisham

Lewisham train station is flooded again? Ex-Rockpool chefs John Laureti and Isabella Leva Laureti probably don’t even think about it. Their commute involves waking up, walking downstairs and turning on the lights inside their handsome sliver of a cafe. They’ve got their work cut out for them, though. Everything from milk buns to the photogenic treats lining the counter is made on-site. You know these two worked in fine dining when the omelette comes with optional caviar and the breakfast (or lunch) steak is perfectly blushing. Plus, Wednesday steak frites nights for the win. – Dan Cunningham, national food and drink editor

Buoy Kiosk, Balgowlah

With an on-the-water view like this, on a totally gorg stretch of Sydney coastline, you could argue that people would come to Buoy Kiosk regardless of whether the food and coffee hit serious heights. So what a win for the northern beaches that chef-owner Emily Jolliffe-Murphy is leading the kitchen, sending out potato subs stuffed with bacon and eggs and torched-cheese “mousetraps”. Then there’s the sell-out herby cheese scones, which are best scoffed sliced open, toasted and spread generously with salted butter. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Jinius, Dawes Point

At the height of the August 2021 lockdown, a photo of a craggly edged Portuguese tart laced with miso caramel sent pastry lovers into a frenzy – including this Broadsheet writer. Stuck at home, we were clamouring to know when we could get Yeongjin Park’s creation. A year later, it was the signature at Tenacious Bakehouse, the Darlo bakery he co-founded. This quick history is the lore underpinning Jinius, Park’s first solo venture.

The 60-seater stars Korean flavours and fermentation secrets learnt from a master, the monk Jeong Kwan Sunim. A wheat-cake starter used in makgeolli rice wine lays the foundation for the breads and pastries, which are robust and earthy, softened with a hint of sikhye. A refined version of the custard tart is in residence too, along with brunch classics (including an artful market plate). All that, plus a growing number of dinner services, in the shade of the Harbour Bridge? True genius. – Howard Chen, freelance contributor

September Studio, Darlinghurst

Florist Bryce Heyworth wanted to open a space where people could connect with his work without having to buy one of his signature architectural arrangements. Somewhere you’d be surrounded by plants, and find the coffee and pastries he thinks are Sydney’s best (Primary and Iggy’s, to be clear). That’s what you’re in for at his new “neighbourhood stock-up shop”. Here, matcha is spiked with syrups made with lilly pilly, wild rose or rosella foraged by Gabriel Gutnik of Ziggy’s Wild Foods, ready to sip at a flower-shaped table in the hydrangea garden adjoining the sleek glass-walled cafe. And, of course, you’re still very welcome to nab a bouquet at the September workshop a few doors down. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Festive Coffee, Ashfield

When food writer Lee Tran Lam visited this out-of-the-way cafe, she was there for one thing: to try Damon Tsai’s cream-topped signature, the Cloud Aix. It’s an icy glass of batch brew, imbued with a sweet flavour from the “fruit kingdom”: Taiwan. Honey made from longan tree flowers is stirred through berry-like Ethiopian beans; on top is a whiff of cold foam flavoured with tieguanyin, a Taiwanese oolong tea. When out-there caffeinated creations are all the rage, visiting Festive Coffee and ordering one that simultaneously showcases a person’s heritage and soothes their homesickness makes for something special. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Sit, Marrickville

Sit is a place to sit. It is that simple. My pick is a spot on the butter yellow grandstand, made out of landfill-diverted plastic by Defy. That seat, with a serve of JP El Tom’s house-cultured yoghurt, dressed in honey and walnuts, please. And a freddo espresso, too. The Baba’s Place team’s social-enterprise cafe is, like its restaurant, full of personality, with a tasty, genuinely interesting menu. Service leans restaurant-style and art pieces by local creatives are dotted throughout. And while yoghurt isn’t usually the most memorable cafe dish, Sit makes it a highlight. “We’ve pretty much got a cremeria in here,” El Tom says. Although, the dairy program has hot competition: pancakes arrive stacked under a quick-melting slice of butter, silky omelettes are rolled with greens and feta, and eggs are confited in butter then served with steak. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Blessed Fruit Pies, North Sydney

It’s like a crime scene, looking at the upper crust of my sour cherry pie; there are smatterings of crimson pooling in crevices of a crisp and perfectly tanned pastry. But this is no tragedy. It’s the result of a densely packed juicy fruit pie, baked by Rose at her family-owned bakery in Greenwood Plaza. Served on intricate platters, with dainty cutlery, the perfectly portioned desserts are not as sweet as they sound, and there’s very little flake to the pastry. In fact, they’re filling and wholesome-feeling, but you’ll absolutely need one of Blessed’s mint sodas to wash it down. Skip the sensible protein-forward pies on this occasion and think “fruit first”. – Emma Joyce, freelance contributor

Kiki Dessert, Ultimo

At a time when bakeries are increasingly flash, with croissants on marble slabs spotlighted like sculptures, Kiki Dessert is a welcome departure. Jenna Choo opened Kiki, in an unassuming arcade, to bring all-day Korean dessert culture to Sydney. Her layered cream cakes are studded with fruit, next to Russian-inspired honey cakes, classic cheesecakes and ultra-light genoise chocolate sponges, all available by the slice or to take away whole. There are also rich, custardy canelés, delicate buttery financiers and extra-zingy lemon madeleines. Plus, Dubai chewy chocolate, which went viral in Korea, meaning Kiki now enforces a strict limit of two per customer. – Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

Valet, Newtown

It’s hard for a coffee shop to cut through nowadays. We’re so spoilt. A great cuppa isn’t that hard to come by, so for a spot that just does coffee (supported by outsourced baked goods) to be as memorable and immediately popular as Valet, something special’s going on. It could be the objectively cool Some Studio-designed fit-out, with textured concrete walls, metal gallery shelving and slick light fittings. Or maybe the mix of places to plonk yourself, the bespoke mugs and bright Trad Tiles work underfoot at the entrance. But it’s likely the fact that the coffee’s really dialled in. Owner Nic Theodore’s been roasting excellently as Catapult since 2020, and he’s been in the industry for more than 20 years. Valet is an impressive debut, which’ll only get better once the outdoor courtyard’s ready by the end of winter. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Ard, Stanmore

If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me if I know what the Saturday morning line down Salisbury Road is for, I would have at least $10. Which is a lot to make from one specific question. My answer is always the same: “Yes! It’s Ard, Christiana Daaboul’s new little bakery – go get in that line, asap.” After a sellout soft-launch weekend in early summer, the inner west bakery officially launched in January. Go on a weekday, when the deep-red roller-door window is up, for a few daily bakes (which first gained fans at markets around town) and coffees passed to you on the street outside. Or line up on the weekend to venture inside the romantic little space and choose from the extensive spread of homely baked goods, like cream-topped cinnamon scrolls and towering baklava cakes, chewy caramelised cookies and, if you’re lucky, Lebanese spinach triangles made by Christiana’s mum Marie. Six months later and the lines don’t lie – this little corner bakery has cemented itself as one of Sydney’s best. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Ca Phe Mai, Double Bay

This brand new cafe-slash-wine-bar is only just warming up, but it’s already deserving of a spot on this list. Couple Cindy Mai and Ed Loveday just opened the 30-seater in a vibey back-lane space. Mai’s Viet Kieu identity informs the menu – created together with Ricos Tacos founder Toby Wilson – which sees Aussie daytime classics mashed up with the dishes of Vietnam. The brekkie roll is a banh mi stuffed with fluffy slabs of egg and ultra-crisp bacon; while an English muffin is stacked with egg and a lemongrass pork sausage patty. There are hot and cold ca phe muois (a silky riff on a salted Vietnamese coffee) and the must-add side dish of a hash brown ready to dip in crème fraîche and house-made chilli oil. Once the nighttime menu kicks in, you’ll find anchovy toast, coconut-water-dressed tuna crudo and glossy, crunchy Hanoi-style spring rolls. Plus, the Fillet o’ Cha Ca, a fish burger that borrows the flavours of a Hanoi-style grilled fish dish. Anytime you visit will be tasty – but choose the morning for something distinct. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor