First Look: This Sweet New Northern Beaches Cafe Is Keeping Things Fine and Dandy

Dandy sits on a busy street in Allambie Heights, quietly working with a “simple is best” philosophy. What you see is what you get, and that includes a glass cabinet filled with cakes baked fresh daily, a tight sandwich menu with a retro curried egg number and a drinks list featuring house-made passionfruit soda.

Co-owners Brooke Tooley and Anthony Svilicich are hospo stalwarts, both with over two decades in the industry and a combined CV that spans daytime favourites like Excelsior Jones, Le Monde, Neighbourhood and Showbox. From the moment they met, they talked about opening something together.

Dandy’s third co-owner and chef, Hai Le, comes from top Sydney wine bar 10 William St. He’s now leading a succinct, old-school cafe menu that will shift with the seasons. The focus is simple food done really well, from scratch – with just enough elevation that it doesn’t feel like something you could easily make at home.

The Schnitty stars a panko-crumbed chicken thigh zinged up with bread and butter pickles, while the Deli has shaved ham, salami cotto and Swiss cheese with thousand island mayo and veggies. The curried egg – a riff on the bagel Svilicich served at Neighbourhood – is a daggy classic getting its moment in the sun at Dandy.

The non-sandwich options get special treatment, too. The porridge gets fancy with burnt butter, maple syrup and a chai-poached pear, while the Arabic egg omelette – topped with labneh and sumac – goes big with roasted cherry tomatoes, fennel and sliced potato. The sausage and egg muffin is already a hangover favourite with locals.

“It’s made with love, and it’s made with care, and it’s made with really good ingredients,” says Svilicich. “There’s beauty in the simplicity.”

Tooley has been particularly touched by the response to her baking.

“We have been selling so much carrot cake,” she says. “It’s my aunty’s recipe. We are selling way more than I ever expected – I make sure we have it every day.”

Another of Dandy’s cake-cabinet staples is a picture-perfect sponge layered with lemon curd and cream, served in perfect, giant wedges.

While the trio is going for old-school in essence, the fit-out is slick – stone flooring, green tiling and indoor-outdoor seating that spills out onto the footpath of the suburban shopping strip.

“The area’s so family orientated,” says Tooley. “You’re getting some of the teenagers, you’re getting their parents, and their grandparents all coming in at separate times.”

As for the name? Well, everything’s fine and dandy here.

Dandy
Shop 3/141 Allambie Road, Allambie Heights

Hours:
Mon to Fri 6am–2.30pm
Sat & Sun 7am–2pm

@dandy_allambie