Mugshot: Sydney's cafe hot spots

TopHat Coffee Merchants

Good for ... serious coffee
Coffee ... Single Origin Roasters
From Jessica Hol and Angus Nicol of Rockdale's Swallow Coffee Traders is a black-and-white space that's home to a custom-built Synesso Hydra machine, rotating single-origin beans and a new-brew bar. The single-origin piccolo ($3) has the fruity sweetness of prunes and is presented on a special tray with a glass of sparkling mineral water. There are brekky boards of za'atar-spiced avocado, but jaffles are the food of choice — of course they are.
315 Clovelly Road, Clovelly, 0414 924 685

Salvage Specialty Coffee

Good for ... Artarmon caffeine levels.
Coffee ... Mecca Espresso, $3.50.
To salvage is to save for future use, and Toby Cutler, Matt Gotto and Dan Yee have not only salvaged a cute little space in Artarmon, they've salvaged most of the furniture and fittings as well. The coffee is freshly roasted Mecca Espresso's Dark Horse blend, all toasty nutmeg and candied orange; pastries are from St Malo in Crows Nest; and the menu runs to ricotta and honey on sourdough.
5 Wilkes Avenue, Artarmon. No phone. Open Monday-Saturday until 2.30pm.

Atlas Kiosk

Good for ... barefoot Bondi breakfasts.
Coffee ... Deluca Specialty Coffees.
Del Larkin says he's going for "a new-school version of the old beachside milk bar", and the retro fitout slots right into Bondi's barefoot and brown-skinned seaside scene. Good for a strong, well-made Deluca piccolo latte ($3.50) and a post-surf breakfast manoush of Lebanese flat bread topped with cucumber, sumac, tomato, poached egg, minted labne and harissa.
14 Hall Street, Bondi Beach 9130 5301.

Milk Bar by Cafe Ish

Good for ... Getting the shakes.
Coffee ... Coffee Alchemy.
Josh Nicholls and Ai Mashima recently moved Cafe Ish out of Surry Hills and into the Redfern 'hood in an effort to keep prices down. It's not the most glammy location, but who needs schmick. The menu free-ranges from baked brekkie ramen to "freaking awesome chicken wings"; the Coffee Alchemy coffee ($3.50) is earthy and spicy, and the shakes and sundaes are a hoot.
105 Regent Street, Redfern.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Cafe Guide is published in June.