Snack Bar: Sonoma’s New Monthly Bake Sale, Free Grifter Tinnies and More Local Food News This Week

What’s on around town

• Heaps Normal’s new bar is a health club like no other. And it’s boozy if you want it to be. The next Healthy Hour is on Friday February 6, from 4pm. Free entry, with DJs and half-price Heaps Normals.

• Sydney-based creative studio Buffet Digital has teamed up with Incu on two graphic tees: one dedicated to the humble baguette, and another to “spongole” – shorthand for spaghetti vongole, coined by Buffet’s Ella Geracitano. 

• It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, lovers. Make a date with one of these 28 dining rooms, recommended by Sydney’s local kitchen talents.

• Mapo’s teaming up with Alex and Trahanas this weekend. Hit the Alex and Trahanas Paddington store from 11am on Saturday February 7 for a scoop on the house – either cherry almond gelato or almond granita topped with cherry jam. The specials will also be available at Mapo’s Darlinghurst and Bondi gelaterias. 

• Grifter is celebrating the 2026 release of its Birra Quattro with free tins with the first 100 slices at Appizza. Saturday February 7, from midday. 

• Sonoma is firing up the ovens for a monthly bake sale at its Alexandria flagship. Expect one-off specials, plus long-ferment, small-batch bakes. It’s kickstarting on Saturday February 14, from 7am till 3pm. Iced Vovo cupcakes join strawberry-and-cream choux buns, apricot galettes and chocolate tarts. Plus, special loaves of bread. 

• Hit Bar Herbs for your birthday to get shots on the house. Just book in, for groups of six or more. 

• Marrickville favourite Angus is welcoming Table at Gaya’s to the kitchen, for a funky, limited menu that takes you to South Asia. Find a coconut sambol brekkie sandwich, miso-spiked chai and technicolour faluda from February 7 till March 1. 

• Curry Club hits Enmore Road’s Colombo Social on Wednesday February 11. For $55, you’ll receive a trio of snacks, a curry of your choice, dal and rice. Bookings recommended.

• Icebergs Dining Room & Bar elevates the food offering at Sydney Airport’s Qantas domestic terminal, with a venue designed by long-time collaborators Lazzarini Pickering Architects. There’ll be fresh OJ, Sonoma pastries and more at the cafe section, and Bondi classics at the bar and kitchen – including the Iceburger, spaghetti vongole and tiramisu, plus wine and cocktails. 

• From February 9 till 13, all bookings at The Apollo, for four or more, will receive a free serve of the restaurant’s signature honey-drenched saganaki. 

What we covered this week

• Coming soon: 14 new restaurants, bars and cafes Sydney’s looking forward to in 2026.

• Cafe-slash-bar Volume One is doing things differently: simple food, free counselling and music. 

• Wildflower, Marrickville’s pioneering brewery, is closing. Kind of. The wild-fermented brews will soon be out of production – but there’s plenty of time to party. 

• 21 to book: January’s openings include Heaps Normal’s flash taproom, a hideaway Thai joint, popular Korean doughnuts and an inner west cafe a pair of Rockpool alums.

• Find some of Sydney’s best rice and wings at a petrol station.

• Grill Americano adds $2 espressos, Italian-style pastries and brekkie rolls to the weekday offering. 

• Valet is just one more reason to hit the south end of King Street. A local roaster’s behind the cafe – there are miso-caramel tarts and, of course, excellent coffee. 

• First look: old meets new at Darband 2.0, a family-run Persian dining room in Auburn. Expect double the space compared to the 20-year-old original, special touches sourced from Iran and the return of a perfect sunshine-coloured dessert. 

• Where Chefs Eat: Masterchef’s Brendan Pang shares his top spots for yum cha, sweets and big groups. 

• Darling Glebe just opened in a moody subterranean space – and you can be one of the first diners at Broadsheet’s Readers’ Dinner on Thursday February 12. 

• First look: The Porcine team nail the upstairs-downstairs thing with L’Avant Cave, a wine bar that has you sorted with drinks, build-your-own fruits de mer platters and steak frites.

You might’ve missed

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

• Green Peppercorn Express showcases Thailand’s Isaan flavours out the back of a Marrickville pub.

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