The Missing Piece

In the not-too-distant past, a trip to Macquarie Centre usually meant slapping on some P-plates for a fun afternoon slicing up your feet on the ice rink before indulging in some of the food court's finest fare. For a bit of variation, you could gather a gaggle of school friends for a teen-scream movie rounded off with a soft serve and fries – for dipping, of course.

A decade or two on, the ice rink is still there, the food court and Macca's too. But there's also a great deal more, especially on the food front, with a gourmet butchery, wholefoods store and specialty coffee. Since reopening after a $440 million redevelopment, the shopping complex has transformed itself into the north-west's latest hotspot, unveiling international brands such as Zara, Uniqlo and two (very crowded) levels of H&M.

In the middle of this vast consumer space is sleek new brew bar The Missing Piece. Run by three siblings with a love for the grind – Brendan, Sarah and Matthew Aouad – the venue is a spin-off of Vogue Cafe, a cute revamped space downstairs that the Aouads took over in 2011 and reinvented with fancy shakes and frappes.

Judging from the line, the new spot upstairs already seems a hit with shoppers, with its La Marzocco, Moccamaster and Hario V60 machines churning out espresso, batch, cold-drip and pour-over brews made from Ethiopian single-origin beans and in-house blends from Gabriel Coffee.

The venue occupies a sunny spot under an atrium, with black bench seating, leather chairs and chunky wooden tables surrounding the coffee and sweets counter. Despite being in the middle of a shopping centre, the sunlight streaming from above and the DJ playing tunes a few steps away give it a relaxed, inviting vibe.

We scan the creative drinks list before settling on a bright and clear cold-drip coffee and an elegant pomegranate iced tea that's a complex balance of tart and sweet. The handsome coffee-tasting platter ranges from an intense espresso with distinct berry notes to a smooth and velvety flat white, alongside a rich piccolo and an earthy and aromatic filter coffee.

The all-day menu – created by the Aouad siblings and finessed by chefs John Kozma, Skye Scrimmager and Marlon Salinas – spans the current trends, with a side kitchen whipping out quirkily named options for burger fiends and the health-conscious alike.

The pick of our morning is the ''sliding start'': a row of glossy, sesame-topped sliders stuffed with a salty-sweet combo of pancetta, fluffy scrambled eggs and tangy tomato relish.

A ciabatta with bacon, fried egg and tomato sauce delivers great old-fashioned breakfast flavours, but it's the glistening green mound of delicate kale chips on the side that steal all the attention. We could do with a whole bowl of those.

Most inventive is the fetching ''sea'' salad, a wholesome bowl of smoked salmon and kale topped with poached egg and flecks of quinoa, chia and almond, dressed simply with olive oil, garlic and lemon.

The spelt fruit toast comes with a generous serve of ricotta drizzled in honey and walnuts, but we wonder if a moister option such as cottage or cream cheese would have done a better job at dressing the loaf.

And for the little one at our table, the ''nana'' banana bread proves a winner, with barely a crumb left over.

With our bellies full and heads abuzz, we're ready to face the shopping hordes and it's off to H&M we go.

THE LOW-DOWN
THE PICKS Sliding start; "sea" salad
THE COFFEE Specialty brews from Gabriel Coffee and Ethiopian single-origin beans
THE LOOK Consumer chic
THE SERVICE Helpful and efficient