The 16 essential summer food experiences of Sydney

• 12 recipes to master this summer
• Sorbet and ice-cream recipes

Take a Floury Baker picnic hamper to the Moonlight Cinema

You don't have to BYO to the Moonlight Cinema at Centennial Park. You could, for instance, rock up empty handed, purchase a box of popcorn and a choc top, and still have a better Hobbit-watching experience than you would at your local cinema. Alternatively, you could order a picnic from The Floury Baker – a dinner delivery service from Rockpool graduate Anna Simamora. The "summer love" picnic includes freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters, potted salmon rillettes, blue cheese tarts, poached prawns, tropical fruit trifle and lots of other goodness in a vintage French basket. Wash it down with a bottle of sparkling red for a night under the stars to remember.

Belvedere Amphitheatre, Centennial Park, Paddington, moonlight.com.au

theflourybaker.com.au, 0435 498 081

Crack some claws at Opera Bar

The seafood platter returns! Merivale's Coogee Pavilion brought it back with a vengeance in July and in a display of 'anything Justin can do, I can do better', Matt Moran has created one for the new-look Opera Bar. Nothing says 'holiday lunch' like sitting harbourside with a pedestal of Yamba prawns, Noosa spanner crab, South Australian lobster, Moreton Bay bugs and Hervey Bay scallops. The original Aussie share-plate.

Lower Concourse Level, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, (02) 9247 1666

Down a hefeweizen at 4 Pines Brewery

No summer in Sydney is complete without a ferry trip to Manly; standing on the bow, getting sprayed with saltwater and roasted by the sun. And if you live in Manly, you'll probably be at 4 Pines Brewery already, necking a beer on the balcony and watching seagulls swoop tourists for chips. The 4 Pines hefeweizen is a German-style wheat beer with banana and citrus notes to cool down the afternoon.

29/43-45 East Esplanade, Manly, (02) 9976 2300

Crunch some fish and chips at The Boathouse, Palm Beach

The battle for best fish and chips in Sydney is fierce but it's hard to go past crisply fried flathead on the deck of this holiday hotspot. Crunchy beer batter entombs inch-thick fish fillets whiter than the Boathouse's walls. The chips are golden, the tartare sharp, the lemon wedges are many. Order another riesling and lunch a little longer.

Governor Philip Park, Palm Beach, (02) 9974 5440

Brunch at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar

Big night on the Belvedere and in need of a pick-me-up before the Sunday sessioning starts? Well, Bondi's number one tribute to the Amalfi coast launched a brunch menu in October just for you. Every Sunday morning you can treat your silly-season-headache with Pepe Saya buttered pastries, fruit salad with fresh honeycomb and a grilled piadina with prosciutto, egg, asparagus, mint and lemon. It's $55 and includes coffee and tea, but you might as well splash out another $20 for unlimited prosecco. After all, it's the holidays and you don't have to work the next day.

1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach, (02) 9365 9000

Have a barefoot bowl and a Pimms jug at The Greens

What was once Norths Bowlo is now The Greens – North Sydney's favourite new joint for an al fresco tipple with harbour views. The 125-year-old venue had a massive makeover in October providing it with the feel of a British croquet club rather than a suburban bingo hall. The competition green is still hosts weekend pennant teams, but if you'd prefer to feel the turf between your toes, the guys at rocknbowl.com.au can sort you out for a few ends. The outdoor white-cane lounges means Pimms and homemade lemonade jugs are mandatory.

50 Ridge Street, North Sydney, (02) 9245 3099

Smash a gelato burger at Cremeria de Luca

Want to know a trick so you will never have to line up for Gelato Messina again: go to Cremeria de Luca in Five Dock instead. Luigi de Luca started scooping in Sicily in 1964 and his gelato leaves Messina for dead. It's ridiculously creamy you can get two scoops on a brioche bun slathered with Nutella and whipped cream.

84 Ramsay Road, Five Dock, (02) 9712 4606

Make prawn rolls on Cronulla beach

Any prawns wrapped in butchers paper should do, but if you want the best then head over to the Cleanfish Australia market in Botany and pick up some award-winning Crystal Bay tigers. Take the guys down to Cronulla Beach with some mayo, crusty white rolls and MasterFoods seafood cocktail sauce (things don't need to get fancier than this).

Cleanfish Australia, 10 Baker Street, Botany, (02) 9557 0533, open to the public Saturday 8am-midday

BYO plonk at Alfio's

Alfio's is a pop-up from a team of ex-Vini staff housed in an old red-sauce joint dozing among the tiled front yards of Renwick Street in Leichhardt. For $50 (cash only) you get four and a bit courses of slow, fresh, slightly Italian food that changes daily. Dishes in the past few weeks have included skirt steak with salsa verde and charred cabbage, and baked mussels with zucchini, chill, asparagus and lentils. Alfio's is BYO only so if you've got a bottle of something you were saving for the holidays, this is where you want to take it – just be sure to ring ahead and book.

71 Renwick Street, Leichhardt, (02) 9560 2447

Have an early morning swim followed by the "full Aussie" breakfast at bills, Bondi

It seems impossible there wasn't a bills in Bondi before 2014. Bill Granger's sunny-side-up cooking is a perfect match for the beachside suburb. A 7am dip in the ocean is the ultimate start to any day and a fine way to work up an appetite. Sate your stomach afterwards with bills version of a big brekkie while the sand's still between your toes. Scrambled organic eggs, sourdough, cumin roast tomato, bacon, miso mushrooms, pork and fennel sausage, oh my. There's also the heritage-listed hotcakes if you want something lighter, and a chilli fried egg and bacon brioche roll with mango chutney for something in between.

79 Hall Street, Bondi, (02) 8412 0700

Indulge in oysters and champagne on the verandah at Catalina

Oysters by the water are all well and good, but oysters ON the water is another thing entirely. Perched like some concrete Bond-villain lair over the lapping shoreline of Rose Bay, there is no glitzier place in Sydney to enjoy a couple of molluscs than Catalina. Inside still feels like a late '90s yacht club but you're not here for the design. You're here for the view, the natural oysters and a glass of Pommery Brut from one of the top wine lists in the country.

Lyne Park, Rose Bay, (02) 9371 0555

Sip a sunset cocktail on the Coogee Pavilion roof

Melbourne always trumped Sydney with rooftop bars, but then Merivale came along with Coogee Pavilion. There's sensational views of the Coogee shoreline, charcoal-grilled meats, Moroccan tiles and a forest of greenery. It's best enjoyed at sunset with 'Mangoes Into A Bar'. That's a cocktail of Olmeca Altos Reposado Tequila, mango, ginger and almond, and also the winner of Good Food's Booze Pun of the Year award.

169 Dolphin Street, Coogee, (02) 9240 3000

Go for an early dinner at The Butler

The vine-girdled terrace that was once Mezzaluna in Potts Point has been reborn at The Butler (that city skyline view was too good to go to waste). The verandah is decked out to look like a Key West gin-joint of Ernest Hemingway's and the food is a blend of French and Caribbean. Book for an early dinner when there's the best chance of witnessing a summer storm. Few things go better with tropical thunder like slowly rotating fans, a rum-based cocktail and a plate of cured swordfish.

123 Victoria Street, Potts Point, (02) 8354 0742

Take some Vic's Meat snags and a cricket bat to Parramatta Park

The sound of Australian summer isn't always waves crashing on a beach or cicadas announcing the arrival of a warm evening. It's the thwack of tennis ball on an old Gray-Nicolls. The 85-hectare heritage-listed Parramatta Park is an excellent spot to set the esky up as stumps. Mainly because it's big and it has barbecue facilities. When it comes to catering for the tea break, it's worth making the trek beforehand to Vic's Meats at Sydney Fish Market, which has you covered for beef sausages that park picnic dreams are made of.

Eat a pie in the beer garden at The Settlers Arms Inn

Surrounded by the mountains of the Macdonald Valley, St Albans is town with little more than a rural fire brigade and The Settlers Arms Inn – an old Cobb & Co stopover established in 1836 and made from convict sandstone. Sunlight drips through the trees in the open beer garden where you can enjoy one of the more tranquil pie-eating experiences around (depending on how many other day-trippers are trying to do the same thing).

1 Wharf Street, St Albans, (02) 4568 2111

Throw back a Mosaic IPA and some street food at Batch Brewing Co

Located in the industrial heart of Marrickville, Batch doesn't have much in the way of fancy furnishings and ocean views but it does have an awesome we're-all-friends-here vibe and a stellar selection of craft beer brewed on site. Over summer the guys from Reuben Republic are at Batch every Friday serving pastrami-stacked sangers, there's a food truck on Saturday, and Nighthawk Diner rocks a barbecue on Sunday. Usually most beers aren't available for more than a few weeks, but the grapefruit-tinted Mosaic IPA should be around for most of summer.

44 Sydenham Road, Marrickville, batchbrewingco.com.au