The Beach Shed

The Beach Shed knows its market. In one small space, metres away from the waves at Dee Why, you can buy a smoothie, a cinnamon scroll and surf wax. Or a pie, a Persian orange cake and one of the arty beach pool photos displayed on the wall.

Framed in the front window, facing the swell where surfers rise and fall, two baristas wrangle the bright yellow espresso machine to keep up with demand. The big glass counter is stuffed with food to go, a mixture of staples - sandwiches, ham and cheese croissants, filo rolls, banana bread - plus more refined offerings like salted caramel and chocolate tart and gluten-free cranberry health slice. The drinks menu runs from milkshakes to the obligatory green juices.

Tucked away down the southern end of the beach, this shed used to store the surf club's boats. The council put it up for tender as a cafe last year and gave the nod to Marcus Svinos, who ran a corporate cafe in Homebush for eight years and wanted a change, and his sister Melissa. When they opened the old shed's doors, they found an empty, wet concrete box with a shower in the corner. "We had to use our imagination," Marcus says.

The floor and ceiling are still concrete, but the fit-out is bright and casual with a padded bench seat along one wall lined with tropical print cushions, cheery hanging yellow lamps and wooden crates attached to the back wall in a practical shelf installation. 

The morning we visit is rainy, which means fewer people at the beach so we score a seat inside. Eat in or takeaway, everyone orders and pays at the counter. 

Service is a bit haphazard - it takes a while for our table to be wiped down after we're seated - but once we've ordered, food and drinks arrive quickly. The Daily Grind coffee is smooth and creamy but still delivers the right kick. The Reviver juice - carrot, orange, apple and ginger - lives up to its name, and a banana milkshake served in a milk bottle is a nostalgia hit, like a banana Paddlepop with a straw.

Eight choices are listed on the all-day brunch blackboard menu, including toasted muesli, bacon and egg roll, soup and a poached pear salad. Organic quinoa bircher is served in what looks like a chunky square glass vase, which shows off the layers of quinoa, vanilla yoghurt and fruit, like a healthy trifle. My friend looks sceptical but changes her tune after the first spoonful. "It tastes a lot nicer than I thought it would," she says, and I agree. The quinoa is a nutty mix of creamy and crunchy, the yoghurt is delicious and the fruit is a generous mix of strawberries, melon, peeled orange segments and passionfruit - no apple filler here.

On the lunch side of brunch is potato terrine with soft eggs, cucumber salad, smoked salmon and micro herbs. There's a glitch when it arrives without smoked salmon, but a pile arrives speedily in a side bowl. The terrine is well done, the thin layers of potato soft but not mushy, topped with two eggs, plenty of greenery and lots of roast tomato.

Since opening in June, the cafe already feels like a beach fixture. The main issue, as the weather warms up and more people discover it's here, will be the queueing. As we eat, the sun comes out and the line to order snakes around two of the indoor tables. It will be hard to find a seat in summer. 

Still, there's a calming water view to gaze at while you wait, and it's good to see the salty old shed rehabilitated into a small, lively addition to Dee Why's beachside scene.

THE LOW-DOWN
THE PICKS Quinoa bircher, The Reviver juice, coffee and cinnamon scroll to go
THE COFFEE Daily Grind
THE LOOK Chic-casual
THE SERVICE A little distracted