January Openings: 21 Sydney Restaurants, Bars and Cafes Starting the Year Off Strong

• Heaps Normal’s new bar is a health club like no other. It’s (kind of) open now – and it’s boozy if you want it to be.

• Kiki Dessert supplies Ultimo with zingy madeleines, custardy canelés and fruit-studded cream cakes in a Studio Ghibli-inspired arcade space (where the Broadsheet team had brekkie recently).

• Green Peppercorn Express goes big on Thailand’s Isaan flavours, out the back of a Marrickville pub.

• First look: find hefty K-barbeque salad bowls (and house-made sodas) at a new Korean Deli in Darlinghurst.

• With Cafe Lewi, Lewisham gets what it wants – restaurant-style breakfasts (from two Rockpool alums), an impressive pastry line-up and aperitivo hours on the way.

• Saigon Supper Inn is the new waterside live music joint – with excellent Vietnamese food. It’s all about stir-fried seafood and locally brewed beers.

• Korean doughnut chain Knotted debuts in Australia with flavours like matcha, Earl Grey, milk cream and roasted sweet corn. And there’s a CBD outpost coming soon.

• First look: Junda Khoo goes big on surf’n’turf (and Malaysian flavours) at the new Sydney Fish Market.

• Sandose, from the team behind Ol’ Mates in Earlwood, delivers banana bread iced lattes, stuffed Thoroughbread schiacciata and a classic smash burger to Peakhurst.

• First look: Aalia’s most hotly requested dishes find a home at the wine room next door. Don’t skip the kokotxas, fattoush-topped crackers or sticky woodfired Khorasan bread.

• Self Raised Snack Shoppe heads west, opening a kiosk in Merrylands. You’re sorted with huge hoagies, pistachio doughnuts and more.

• After a false start, Cherry’s Goods reopens in the CBD. And with on-site ovens, now everyone will leave with a fresh cookie (and outlandish matcha, if you fancy).

• The new Sydney Fish Market is here – and Broadsheet was there to check it all out.

• First look: at Marrickville’s new family-run pizzeria, you should order a sandwich. Pick from focaccia, panuozzo or baciata, then fill it with traditional Italian fillings (like mortadella and stracciatella or slow-cooked meatballs). Plus, aperitivo hour coming soon.

• First look: olive oil is sacred at Olivetta, inside the new Sydney Fish Market. It’s more art gallery than retail store, with a tasting bar for the range of cold-pressed, extra-virgin drops.

• I cannot imagine the battery shop to bakery pipeline is particularly strong. But that all changes with Ard, which just officially opened on a Stanmore corner – with choc-topped baklava and Lebanese-leaning sweets.

• The Porcine team just revamped the old P&V bottle-o, adding wine bar L’Avant Cave to its Paddo block. Build your own snacky fruits de mer plate, go bigger with steak frites or simply have a drink before your booking upstairs.

• Hit Camperdown’s Cafe Baby Finger for cheffy brekkie – like crispy royal blue potato with eggs, garlic labneh and burnt chilli.

• Koda, Sydney’s newest Japanese-ish grill restaurant, revamps the old Monopole site. Find robata-kissed seafood, lasagne gyoza and a lobster ramen that’s already the most-ordered.

• Caraway is another “breakfast restaurant” newcomer, arriving in Burwood with crab omelettes, house-baked caraway sourdough and specialty drinks (like pandan cold brews).

• If you’re looking for classic French bakes and tartines, Tonton’s new Newtown outpost is for you. Everything’s baked in the Surry Hills original, using single-origin Provenance flour.

Additional reporting by Lucy Bell Bird, Howard Chen, Dan Cunningham, Ben Hansen, Alice Jeffery and Bineeta Saha.