Five To Try: The Sydney Spots Christina Tosi, of New York’s Milk Bar, Loved While She Was in Town

Christina Tosi is known internationally for her sweet creations at Milk Bar. In 2008, it was a little bakery in NYC’s East Village. Now it’s a cult-favourite bakery, renowned for Tosi’s cereal-milk ice-cream, “compost” cookies (studded with crushed pretzels, choc chips and potato chips) and sprinkle-speckled layer cakes. The baker just hit Sydney for a three-day pop-up as part of American Express Delicious Month Out.

Tosi and her team Milk Bar-ified the Ace Hotel’s back laneway cafe Good Chemistry. People queued for cookies, cereal milk soft-serve and cold brews topped with cereal-milk foam and cornflakes. Although the pop-up is over, Tosi shared a list of the Sydney bakeries (and one restaurant) she loved while she was here.

Humble, Surry Hills, Circular Quay and CBD

Tosi nabbed one of our city’s most photogenic (and nostalgic) treats: a Humble finger bun. A swirl of pink icing crowns a softly sweet milk dough, which sandwiches a thick slab of butter. Plus, a salty-sweet choc-chip cookie, doing an excellent job of the flavour pairing Tosi does so well.

Ester, Chippendale

Tosi’s in the know – a trip to Mat Lindsay’s fire-powered dining room is a Sydney essential. Starting with the charred potato bread? Another essential.

AP Bakery, Newtown, Surry Hills, Potts Point, CBD and Darlinghurst

The large round Anzac biscuit from Dougal Muffet and the team at AP is chewy, deeply caramel and an education in an Aussie classic.

Pantry Story, Stanmore

You’ve likely heard about Mutiara Sucipto’s jiggling chocolate capybaras. The panna cottas are stupidly cute and ride a kouign-amann. For April, Sucipto made tri-colour Neapolitan renditions and gifted one to Tosi.

Good Ways, Redfern and Alexandria

This bakery is a local favourite for its generous rolls (on house-baked ciabatta) and sweet and savoury baked goods. The weekend-only vanilla slice is exceptional, as is the cheddar-topped Vegemite scrolls. But we spied a curried kangaroo sausage roll on Tosi’s Sydney line-up.