Rollers Bakehouse

At Rollers Bakehouse there’s a pile of golden, flaky croissants in the window. Here, pastry is not an accessory to your coffee – it’s the main event. Self-taught baker James Sideris started out by wholesaling boundary-pushing muffins as Butter Boy Bake, but now his focus is on croissants. And he has some fun with it.

The classic twice-baked almond croissant, for example, is reinvented with a blackberry and pistachio filling. And the chocolate croissant is made with charcoal-dyed dough, double chocolate and crumble. There’s also a list of savoury croissants, such as the “garlic bread”, which is made with garlic, rosemary and thyme croissant dough and gruyere cheese, and there’s a “sushi roll” croissant with salmon, ginger, nori and wasabi inside charcoal-dyed dough. There are also vegan chocolate and coconut cookies, and maple-bacon snails made with smoked maple bacon, maple custard and roasted almonds.

Espresso-based drinks and other brews are by Okay Coffee, a collaboration between Showbox Coffee Brewers in Manly (run by one of Rollers Bakehouse’s owners) and Wood and Co Coffee Roasters in Melbourne.

The space has a Palm Springs vibe and centres around a large courtyard dotted with plants, cactus and besser blocks. Customers can sit at the two pink-tiled communal tables the concrete amphitheatre-style seating. The inside is fitted out with white tiles and concrete. And a glass-cubed space where you can see Sideris make his creations.