Jessie Prince
Across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, the café and bakery scene is in the midst of a fresh wave of openings. Established operators are expanding their footprints, while newcomers are entering the scene to an enthusiastic response. Today’s morning destinations are about more than what’s on the plate, with interiors becoming part of the experience, from European-inspired bistros to Nordic-style spaces.
From Vietnamese salted coffee and freshly baked goods to neighbourhood favourites drawing queues out the door, these new openings reflect a continued appetite for well-made coffee, seasonal dishes and pastries worth planning a morning around.
The latest openings worth knowing right now
The best new cafés and bakeries in Melbourne
Daybaker, Abbotsford
To the glee of locals in Abbotsford, pastry chef Charlie Duffy opened Daybaker in May. During his time at Small Batch, Duffy’s laminated pastries earned him a following, and since setting up his own spot fans have been braving the cold to queue patiently in the early mornings. “It’s been far beyond anything we could have imagined,” Duffy says. “It’s been amazing to see such enthusiasm for a new neighbourhood bakery.”
The chocolate wattleseed croissant best captures what they’re all about – the native seed is speckled throughout the dough and they use Planet Cocoa single-origin chocolate batons from Fiji. “It’s a pastry that reflects our focus on quality, locality and creating something that feels both familiar but unique.”
Upper Middle, South Melbourne
Front-of-house veteran Franck Sammut, who spent eighteen years at France-Soir, has opened Upper Middle, a casual all-day spit in South Melbourne.
“The menu and the space both draw on the food and places I love: simple things done well, European touches, and a room with personality. My hope is that it becomes part of people’s daily routine, a spot they return to without thinking,” says Sammut.
Led in the kitchen by head chef Lakshay Kapoor (Le Cordon Bleu, formerly Bistro Thierry), the offering spans brunch staples and St Ali coffee, alongside a baguette and pizza bar serving everything from margherita to nduja with pickled chilli and jalapeño honey. Our pick: the baguette with DOP prosciutto, stracciatella, tomato, basil pesto and rocket.
Bloomwood, CBD
A second CBD outpost on Bourke Street cements Bloomwood as a go-to for pastries that sit between French technique and Asian-influenced flavours, drawing a steady city crowd since its debut on Exhibition Street in 2024.
Moving between the familiar and the unexpected, the pastry case is anchored by viennoiserie like buttery pain au chocolat and crisp croissants, alongside playful reinventions: miso banoffee Danish, Dubai chocolate cookies, shio salt bread and a Hong Kong custard shio. Past creations such as the black sesame mochi flower offered a more intricate bite — layered with black sesame custard, mochi, blackberries, ginger sesame cream and black sesame jelly.
Drinks complete the picture, from matcha clouds to well-executed coffee, reinforcing Bloomwood’s appeal to both pastry purists and those seeking something a little more exploratory.
Hector’s Deli, CBD and Carlton
Cult Melbourne sandwich shop Hector’s Deli has opened its eighth location in Carlton, arriving on Lygon Street shortly after launching its second CBD site on Little Collins Street. The expansion continues a steady rollout, which has become a go-to for fast, well-made sandwiches across Melbourne. Known for its signature toasted tuna melts on rye, generously filled salad sandwiches and chicken schnitzels tucked into steamed milk buns, Hector’s Deli also serves a tight line-up of drinks and doughnuts. The Carlton store adds a location-only item to the menu with a doughnut maritozzo, filled with whipped cream, condensed milk and vanilla.
Hector’s Deli has been running since 2017, when chef Dom Wilton first opened in a former milk bar tucked into Richmond’s backstreets. Quality ingredients and a commitment to consistency paid off. Key elements such as bread, pickles and sauces are made on-site at Hector’s Bakery in Richmond, and while the menu remains the same, each fit-out is designed to suit the location.
Butter Days Bakery, Malvern
Melbourne has a new sweet stop worth queuing for at Butter Days Bakery. Owned by John Demetrios (Vue de Monde, Omnia, Yugen)—winner of season two of MasterChef: Dessert Masters—and his wife Martina Cissig Demetrios (Embla, Trader House), the bakery blends classical pastry technique with Scandinavian influence. The signature is the Sunshine Bun: a savoury-sweet malted dough filled with lemon and cinnamon-scented custard. Sweet offerings continue, from Swedish kanelbulle and chocolate-dipped profiteroles to brown butter sablés Bretons filled with fruit custard and macadamia swirls. Those who prefer savoury can go for Danishes with everything bagel seasoning, cream cheese, dill, capers, shallots and lemon topped with smoked salmon, or cheesy pinwheels.
Nico’s Sandwich Deli pop-up, Fitzroy
A freshly made crisp chicken sandwich bathed in a glowing blue light sounds more like a mirage than a genuine snack option for late-night revellers, but it’s real! In March, Nico’s Sandwich Deli opened an after-hours sandwich automat in Fitzroy, modelled on examples they’d come across in Amsterdam. Staff on hand keep the vending machine freshly stocked, and for the six-month stint it’s operating, there is a rotating menu of limited-edition sandwiches.
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All’Antico Vinaio, CBD
After earning cult status for its overstuffed schiacciate (Tuscan flatbread) and snaking queues in Florence, sandwich shop All’Antico Vinaio has opened its first Australian outpost on Pitt Street. The menu features fifteen generously filled schiacciate, from the viral Paradiso with mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio to an Australia-exclusive creation with Papandrea‘s wagyu bresaola, parmesan and rocket.
Much of what goes into each sandwich arrives directly from Italy, including the flour, 16-month-aged Prosciutto di Parma, buffalo mozzarella, parmesan and pecorino, while the bread is baked fresh on-site daily and finished with house-made pesto, seasonal produce and other local ingredients. It’s a faithful slice of Florence, now just a short walk from Sydney Harbour.
Adelaide’s Kitchen, Paddington
Adelaide’s Kitchen has quickly become one of Paddington’s most talked-about new neighbourhood cafés. Tucked inside a heritage terrace on Regent and Renny streets, the cottage-kitchen-inspired space has found its audience almost immediately, with strong demand in its first week prompting the team to temporarily pause on hot dishes like egg soldiers and porridge. For the moment, mornings are centred around baked goods including scones, fresh cookies and other sweet treats alongside Lay Day Coffee.
Cà Phê Mai, Double Bay
Both a neighbourhood café and contemporary wine bar, Cà Phê Mai has brought a fresh take on Vietnamese dining to Double Bay. Opened by couple Cindy Mai and Ed Loveday, the venue draws on Mai’s family recipes and the pair’s travels through Vietnam, pairing nostalgic flavours with a relaxed, European-style bistro atmosphere. Since opening in mid-June, it has quickly gained a following for its blend of tradition and modernity, combining Mai’s family history in hospitality with Loveday’s experience across Sydney’s bar and wine scene (ACME, Bar Brosé).
By day, the menu centres on their signature pho gà, made from Mai’s generations-old chicken broth recipe, alongside Hanoi-style spring rolls and vermicelli bowls. Paired with the house speciality, salted Vietnamese coffee, is a range of Vietnamese-Australian breakfast dishes, including bánh mì filled with hash browns, eggs and Vietnamese pickles, and a bò lá lốt sausage and egg muffin.
Evening drinks shift to low-intervention wines, sparkling rice wine and produce-driven cocktails.
The Fold, North Sydney
Blossoming from its early beginnings as a laneway coffee cart, social enterprise Two Good Co’s café, The Fold, opened its doors in March, above North Sydney’s Victoria Cross Metro station. Reflecting the Turkish heritage of head chef Ayse Moonen, the menu revolves around its signature sandwiches or “folds”. A folded pita is layered with fillings including free-range butcher’s lamb kofta with lemon sumac slaw, tahini and house-made pickles, and charred eggplant with lemon sumac slaw and tahini. Coffee is Single O and toast and sandwiches use Baker Bleu bread, with loaves available for sale.
The Fold operates on Two Good Co’s model of reinvesting 50 per cent of profits into their Work Work employment program for women with lived experience of domestic violence, homelessness and complex trauma. “The Fold is a place to sit, to belong, to feel cared for,” says Rob Caslick, founder of Two Good Co, “and in doing so it directly supports women rebuilding their independence.”
Sit, Marrickville
Team Baba’s Place is embracing the day with its new café Sit, which opened in February. Built with not-for-profit Fresh Hope Communities, it’s a social enterprise located on the street level of Nightingale Marrickville, an affordable housing project, and designed to be a multi-functional space for the community. As for the food, its rolled omelette stuffed with feta and greens with an anchovy on top has been an early hit, as have the pancakes with butter and maple syrup.
Ard, Stanmore
In an old Stanmore battery shop in Sydney’s inner west, Christiana Daaboul has opened Ard bakery, finding a permanent home for her popular plant-based creations, after developing a following through her roaming market pop-ups. Lebanese-Australian, Daaboul draws on her heritage for an ever-changing menu of baked goods, which includes the likes of pistachio plum baklava cake, mango cardamom buns and date shortbread.
Having officially opened at the end of January, you can pop by from 6am Wednesday to Friday, when she cranks up the red roller door on the coffee window, and from 8.30am on weekends. Still, you’ll have to turn up and join the bustling bakery’s queue to find out what her “bake-of-day” is going to be; rather than planning ahead, Daaboul prefers to see where the mood takes her, on the day.
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Bistro Tino, Fortitude Valley
The team behind Brisbane favourite Mosconi has opened the doors to Bistro Tino, a European-inspired café and wine bar that brings a ritualistic approach to all-day dining.
The menu is ingredient-led and flexible, with all-day breakfast spanning fried brioche with honey ricotta and balsamic strawberries and potato and zucchini frittata with blue swimmer crab and crème fraîche, while midday dishes include simmered pastina minestrone and panzanella made with yesterday’s bread.
Inside, the 20-seat dining room feels warm, anchored by a handmade Tasmanian oak bar, ochre leather banquettes and herringbone parquetry. With pastries, sweets and coffee from morning and plans to extend into evening trade by spring, Bistro Tino looks set to become one of Fortitude Valley’s most charming new neighbourhood addresses.
Goodside, South Brisbane
Goodside joined South Brisbane’s Fish Lane precinct, in June. The kitchen at the new “Asian brunch café” from Fanda Group (Rick Shores, Marlowe, Central, Southside) is led by executive chef Benny Lam, who also heads up Southside and Central. The prawn har gow katsu sando – which uses the same mix in its prawn patty as Southside’s har gow dim sum – has been a hit since day one. “It’s comfort food and technique in the same bite,” says Fanda Group owner David Flynn. “Once people try it, they always come back for it.”
