Cafe West Juliett

The difference between a disaster and a triumph is invariably one of construction. Take West Juliett's burger; a lesson in how to build in order to avoid sog, float, sideways creep and spillage. It starts with a foundation of crusty Sonoma wholemeal bread roll. Butter lettuce is laid on top, then house-made beetroot relish; then a thick slab of all-beef patty (nothing but grass-fed beef and salt), cheddar cheese cleaving to its heat. From then on, the build works from the top down. The bread roll lid is spread with mayonnaise topped with dill pickles, then a spoonful of tomato relish is used as glue, the two halves gently pressed together.

But my bloke adds fried egg and bacon to his order ($2 each), as blokes do, so there's a perfectly judged, oozing fried egg on top of the beef and good bacon between beef and relish. It makes the whole thing rather leaning tower of Pisa-like, so a big, rustic steak knife is driven through its heart, skewering it upright. Applause all round, please, for architect, designer and building contractor.

Everything about this new Marrickville cafe has been constructed solidly, step by step, by owners John and Kathryn Stavropoulos, formerly of Cafe Zoe in Surry Hills. After a year travelling the world, they came home, found a gracious old corner building that had been empty for 50 years, and got to work.

It now has a lovely, deep verandah, a wide open space of bistro tables and bar stools and a proper kitchen. Much is made in-house, including giant macaroons (as opposed to macarons) for $2 and rich chocolate-chip cookies ($4). Coffee is from Sutherland's excellent White Horse, inadvertently setting off an argument for and against the trend for lighter-roasted beans. For: More nuance and spice. Against: No rich, earthy hit. The menu is a cracker, with its olive oil fried eggs with braised lentils and morcilla sausage, poachies with avocado, feta, parsley, cress, lemon and dukkah on toast, and ''kid's tomato pasta''.

Herbs are deep-fried and strewn over golden skin-on chips; and interleaved through a crunchy winter salad of raw kale, red pepper, avocado, shaved fennel, kohlrabi and pumpkin seeds in a great vinaigrette.

Juices are freshly pressed, soda pops are house-made and they even make their own yoghurt. We've got a good 'un here and the weekend crowds are already saying the same thing I am. Build it, and we will come.

Do … check out the tray of jams and relishes.

Don't … just do coffee, the food is great.

Dish … Juliett winter salad with avocado, vegetables, leaves, nuts, seeds, herbs, $11.90.

Vibe … Happy neighbourhood drop-in centre.