Coffee[**
Single Origin**](http://singleoriginroasters.com.au/)
Single Origin Roasters have been satisfying the caffeine-fiends of Sydney for over a decade. Impeccable roasts aside, they’re also known for their consistently well-made coffee. You can give them a test run at their Surry Hills café which recently extended its trading hours to Saturdays. Hallelujah. Single Origin, 60-64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills, (02) 9211 0665
Looking for a java hit to fuel an afternoon of shopping in the city? Head on down to Gumption. This Strand Arcade coffee shop is brought to you by the team behind Marrickville cult favourite Coffee Alchemy, so you know the beans, be they one of CA’s signature blends or a special-reserve single estate, are going to be top-notch. Gumption, ground level, Strand Arcade, Pitt St, Sydney, no phone
The Mecca team consistently deliver some of the finest cups in town. Head to any of their four locations (we like the King Street original) for top-quality beans sourced everywhere from Columbia to Kenya, plus state-of-the-art equipment and knowledgeable staff to guide you through the brews. Mecca, 67 King St, Sydney, (02) 9299 8828
The Reuben Hills family know a thing or two about coffee, and boy does it show. Roasts range from their house espresso blend to the latest Cup of Excellence frontrunners and they’ll brew them for you (depending on which beans are being showcased on the day) in anything from an Aeropress to the old faithful espresso machine. The menu, inspired by the countries they source their beans from, offers plenty to smile about too. Reuben Hills, 61 Albion St, Surry Hills, (02) 9211 5556
Paramount, Reuben Hills’s younger sibling, offers even more caffeine-fuelled goodness in one of the slickest rooms in town. The light-filled space (which is housed in the old Paramount Pictures building, hence the name) with its high ceilings and enviable polished concrete floors is humming with happy customers downing their Ethiopian filters, Mexican espressos, jam doughnut milkshakes and gloriously gutsy waffles. Paramount Coffee Project, 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills, (02) 9211 1122
This hot new Manly café serves top-quality filter and espresso coffee from roasters including Reuben Hills and Mecca Espresso, as well as fresh eats such as smashed minted peas with ricotta, preserved lemon and pesto on sourdough, black buckwheat tacos with snow crab, green mango, chilli, lime and fresh ginger, and sweet stacks of coconut and carrot pikelets with natural yoghurt, walnuts and raw honey. Showbox Coffee Brewers, 19 Whistler St, Manly, (02) 9976 5000
Breakfast
Hitting the coffee and breakfast jackpot in Sydney isn’t always as simple as it sounds, but Ruby’s is an exception. They’ll serve you a top-of-the-range single-origin pour-over, or killer milk coffee over ice to go along with your BLAT, croque-monsieur or coconut and quinoa Bircher. Good stuff. Ruby’s Diner, shop 1, 173-179 Bronte Rd, Waverley, 0404 379 585
This Bronte favourite, just up the road from the ocean, is your go-to for a pre-beach or post-surf breakfast feed. Expect the likes of scrambled eggs with black sausage, dill cucumber and yoghurt salad and redcurrant jam, coddled eggs with chorizo, capsicum and cannellini beans, and orange and yoghurt pancakes with berry compote, with a strong swing towards locally sourced produce. Three Blue Ducks, 141-143 Macpherson St, Bronte, (02) 9389 0010
Fratelli Paradiso is the place to be seen in breakfast central Potts Point. Among the Italian-accented offerings are Jersey milk “risotto” with peach and pistachio, scrambled eggs with rocket pesto, roast tomato and focaccia, and sheep’s milk yoghurt mousse with strawberries and granola. Fratelli Paradiso, 12-16 Challis Ave, Potts Point, (02) 9357 1744
A recent addition to the Potts Point weekend breakfast circle, this modern bistro-wine bar hybrid does the first meal of the day with a sophisticated twist. Go light with mango and coconut-spiked quinoa porridge, a little heavier with toasted liquorice bread and cultured butter, or the whole nine yards with poached eggs, charred onion consommé, mushrooms and peas. Yellow, 57 Macleay St, Potts Point, (02) 9332 2344
A decent breakfast in Sydney’s CBD is not always easy to come by, but the launch of Alpha’s breakfast menu has turned the tables for those in the southern end of town. Big-hitting Greek breakfast flavours include ouzo-cured ocean trout bagels, loukaniko sausage with baked beans and poached egg, and Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts. Alpha, 238 Castlereagh St, Sydney, (02) 9098 1111
For Sunday breakfast with a side of fun, look no further than Pinbone. The young, energetic kitchen team put a gutsy, flavour-packed twist on the most important meal of the day with bacon, pumpkin and maple tarts, poached eggs with fregola, a dangerously good fried chicken burger and seriously smooth coffee to complete the puzzle. Pinbone, 3 Jersey Rd, Woollahra, (02) 9328 1600
Paramount Coffee Project
