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SMH Good Cafe Guide awards 2013

From local hero to hall of fame, the Good Cafe Guide awards celebrate Sydney's best caffeine haunts.

Jill Dupleix
Jill Dupleix

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eftpos best cafe

Circa Specialty Coffee, Parramatta

It's in a laneway and the kitchen is 1.5 metres x 1.5 metres, but Tony Sleiman and Aykut Sayan are rocking the locals with high-detail Five Senses coffee, flavour-bursting food, and a go-west spirit that's putting Parramatta on the map.

21 Wentworth Street, Parramatta, 0410 757 757

Best new cafe

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Excelsior Jones, Ashfield

An old corner shop converted to a cool cafe, Excelsior has a whip-smart menu of pork hock hash and cream soda spiders with a no-attitude attitude to those packing a kid or two.

139A Queen Street, Ashfield, 9799 3240

Best coffee

Coffee Alchemy, Marrickville

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Hazel de los Reyes sets the bar with her dedication to the bean, from sourcing and selection, to roasting and brewing. More a roastery outlet than a full-blown cafe - and no food to speak of - it's nevertheless one of the top coffee destinations in Sydney.

24 Addison Road, Marrickville, 9516 1997

Latorre & Dutch best boutique roaster

Reuben Hills, Surry Hills

Not only a specialty roaster bringing integrity to each stage of the process, from sourcing and selecting, to roasting, brewing and educating, but a boundary-pushing cafe as well, with food inspired by the beans' countries of origin.

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61 Albion Street, Surry Hills, 9211 5556

Best brew bar

Sideshow at Single Origin Roasters, Surry Hills

Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to the excellent adventure of coffee brewing in all its forms - syphon, cold-drip, filter, or espresso - the little sideshow to Single Origin Roasters' Surry Hills flagship is for many the big top.

52-64 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills, 9211 0665

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Bonsoy best barista

Dan Yee of Salvage Specialty Coffee, Artarmon

Recently landed at Salvage with barista mates Toby Cutler and Matt Goto and Mecca Espresso beans, Yee is curious and forward-thinking, striving for excellence in every cup.

5 Wilkes Avenue, Artarmon, no phone

Best small cafe

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Brickfields, Chippendale

Ticking every trending box, this half-bakery, half-espresso (Mecca) bar , redefines the level of detail that can be put in place in a limited space.

206 Cleveland Street, Chippendale, 9698 7880

Best food cafe

Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern

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Michael Rantissi does everything from scratch in this born-again cottage, from the falafel and shakshouka to the brilliant pastries and The Grounds Roasters coffee.

96 Kepos Street, Redfern, 9319 3919

Local hero

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

BSB recently launched the first social-enterprise bakery in Australia,the Bread & Butter Project, training refugees to be ''the bakers of tomorrow'' and making a real contribution to a wider community. thebreadandbutterproject.com

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Now in Surry Hills, Alexandria, Neutral Bay, Marrickville and Potts Point, 9699 1011

Hall of fame

bills, Darlinghurst

The original bills cafe changed our idea of what a cafe could be when it opened in Liverpool Street 20 years ago. It's still as fresh as a daisy today with its big share table, scrambled eggs, great magazines, and Single Origin Roasters coffee.

433 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, 9360 9631

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**The Good Cafe Guide's Sydney editor Jill Dupleix will be online from 12.30pm to 1.30pm AEST today to answer your questions. Leave a message for her here.**

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Cafe Guide 2013 will be available from Tuesday in bookshops and online at smhshop.com.au for $9.99. It will be sold for $5 this Saturday with The Sydney Morning Herald.

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Jill DupleixJill Dupleix is a Good Food contributor and reviewer who writes the Know-How column.

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