Find Ovaltine Lattes and Fancy Pastries at New South Sydney Cafe Bakers Dozen

There’s a new neighbourhood cafe overlooking the Georges River in Sydney’s south – and it’s here to add something new to the area. Meet Bakers Dozen, a new spot for pastries, brekkie and more.

“We wanted to give people an experience,” says owner Alyssa Sarigiannis, of the spot just back from the Sans Souci waterfront. “You walk into the space, and you can see the pastry chefs making everything.”

Leading that kitchen is Clement Bazin. The French pastry chef has been on chocolate duty at Laduree and Eric Kayser in Paris, as well as working as the head pastry chef at Zumbo in Sydney. In Singapore, he was the pastry sous at the Michelin-starred Joel Robuchon Restaurant and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, before returning to Sydney as the executive pastry chef at the Park Hyatt. Dine in at Bakers Dozen and you’ll catch Bazin preparing the next day’s baked goods through a window into the kitchen.

Up front, these are fanned out across a burnt-orange marble countertop, forming a colourful mosaic of treats welcoming you in. There are danishes topped with pretty piles of fruit, and generously sized plaits crowned with berries. Classic croissants are in attendance too, plus sugar-coated serves topped with perfectly piped meringue or lemon curd. Their savoury siblings could be topped with sautéed mushrooms, gruyere, caramelised onions and confit garlic, or a medley of roasted veggies, olives and feta.

Sarigiannis doesn’t shy away from a menu that looks to trends – think matcha, specialty iced coffees and smash burgers. And, judging from the crowds upon opening, it’s what the area wants. “I think the closest [place to buy matcha] would be in Cronulla,” she says. 

A scan of the surrounding peninsula suggests Sarigiannis is just about right – while there are a couple of the ever-increasingly popular matcha lattes scattered around this slice of Sydney, there’s nowhere with a list as substantial as Bakers Dozen this side of the Captain Cook Bridge.

Here the tea arrives spliced with strawberry, mango or coconut, or underneath a purple-hued taro cloud. The house lattes span red velvet, white chocolate, taro and an iced pour topped with iced biscoff cold foam. The most popular drinks, though, are on tap.

“We sell out every single day,” says Sarigiannis. One tap is dedicated to the ever-nostalgic Ovaltine – which arrives with a malt cold foam and chocolatey, crumbly chunks of Ovaltine – while the other flavour rotates (it’s currently a brown sugar latte).

Creative plays on classic brunch plates round out the offering: eggs are folded with nam jim-marinated prawns; poached eggs arrive with labneh and Aleppo-butter toast; fried chicken tops the congee; and an unorthodox big brekkie includes Texas-rubbed brisket, mashed potato pancakes and a burnt butter emulsion. For later on, you’ll find a gochujang chicken sandwich and a smash burger that, while not particularly smashed, goes big on zesty house-made pickles and onion rings.

Sarigiannis sums it up: “I thought the area needed something different – other than your traditional avo toast.”

Bakers Dozen
Shop 2, 505–507 Rocky Point Road, Sans Souci

Hours:
Daily 5.30am–2.30pm

@bakersdozenau

Additional reporting by Grace MacKenzie.