Cubanos and porchetta: Sydney's new hot-meat sandwich spot is glorious (and messy)
Last year, Good Food launched Sandwich Watch, a column dedicated to the essential Sydney sangers, rolls, subs and jaffles you need to know about. It's a monthly column, and we published the last one a fortnight ago, but every now and then a sandwich shop comes along that requires immediate attention. We interrupt the regular schedule to bring news of A.P Quay, which opened on Monday.
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Tucked into the base of the Quay Quarter Tower, it's the second All Purpose Bakery location to open this year (and the seventh overall), after chef Mat Lindsay, baker Dougal Muffet and hotelier Russell Beard launched Darlinghurst's A.P Bread and Wine in January. Croissants and assorted breads are made on site at the Circular Quay shop, but we're most excited about the various meats roasted in store on gleaming imported French spits.
The big three drawcards from the spit are spatchock (young chook), porchetta and beef, but the full sandwich menu runs much longer. Hot sandwiches like these are rarely seen in Sydney, especially the CBD. The Good Food team visited A.P Quay to check out some highlights.

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Sydney Morning Herald
9 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
10 Sydney bakeries serving top-shelf baked goods (from sweet to savoury)
Eating out Essential cafes and bakeries Good Food reviews the city's best bakeries, from coastal classic Iggy's to Filipino favourite Starlight. As featured in Good Food's Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025, presented by T2. See all stories. Previous SlideNext Slide A good loaf of golden sourdough can make a cold morning worth rising for – and Sydney is in no short supply. Artisan bakeries flourished in the years post-COVID when sourdough became standard, croissants enjoyed unprecedented popularity and our vocabulary for viennoiserie grew. While the quality of baked goods has never been better, what makes a great bakery hasn't really changed: it's a friendly smile on a dark morning, a crunchy loaf of bread that tastes as good as it looks, and a sausage roll (with sauce) to go, thanks. Sydney's bakery scene is immensely strong, and there was great competition for this list in Good Food's Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025. Presented by T2, the guide celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 11 categories, including icons, those best for tea, coffee and matcha, and where to get the city's best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. (These reviews also live on the Good Food app, and are discoverable on the map.) A.P Bakery Talk about over achieving. A.P's new Circular Quay location rocks the best hot sandwiches in town (try the rotisserie spatchcock with stuffing) while its all-day Darlinghurst site sends out oysters to knock back with chardonnay and naturally leavened brioche. The constant across all A.P outposts, however, is Dougal Muffet's formidable bread and pastries. Highlights include fougasse with dark, dramatic crust; sourdough made with heritage wheat and house-milled grain; thick, caramelised caneles; super buttery kouign-amanns; and sticky, individual peach galettes. Must order: The spicier-than-expected Aleppo pepper, Asiago cheese and sesame scroll. Multiple locations, Fiore Bread As you stroll down the pretty, tree-lined Blues Point Road, you'll realise everyone around you – brush turkeys and cavoodles included – are on their way to this eclectic-cute Italian bakery. Ex-Iggy's baker Alberto Dal Bosco and partner Samantha Dean use heritage grains to give their sourdough loaves depth of flavour and personality, and their bouncy focaccia makes a great base for build-your-own sandwiches. Good to know: Discover more Fiore sandwiches at its new CBD outpost. Flour Wander in on a lazy morning to score a sun-bathed seat at the communal table – beside the fresh flowers and complimentary newspapers – and order a specialty coffee while perusing the pastry cabinet. It's a thing of butter-laden beauty, crowded with cookies, pistachio croissants and fluffy oiled focaccia slices. With everything baked in-house, you can't order wrong. Must order: Patatas bravas focaccia. 277 Willarong Road, Caringbah South, Flour & Stone For an international tourist in Sydney, Flour and Stone's panna cotta lamington should be as essential as an Opera House visit or buying knock-off Ugg boots. The clientele at Nadine Ingram's tiny bakery is often more local though, here for the signature lemon drizzle cake, brown butter tarts, scones and so much more. Everything that comes out of the oven is cosier than wearing sheepskin boots on a Sunday morning. Must order: The lamington or lemon drizzle if you're and F&S first-timer, but ask about the monthly cake specials too. 43 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo, Goodwood Bakeshop Orderly queues form each weekend at this local favourite. There are dogs, there are babies, and there are perfectly crusty, caramelised loaves of sourdough. The menu changes weekly, retaining favourites (like warm ham, gruyere and mustard croissants), reinventing day-old pastries (hello, twice-baked jalapeno and smoked cheddar croissants), and relying on seasonality (quince danishes and spiced apple pies in autumn). When sustainability is key, selling out is common – bakers make just enough for each day. Good to know: The plain croissant ranked first in Good Food's recent blind taste test. 297 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, goodwoodbakeshop Seventeen years after it opened, Iggy's remains the benchmark against which all Sydney bread is measured. Even now, you have to arrive early for the glorious sourdough loaves, rolls and bagels, which often sell out by mid-morning. As a bonus, it means you get the almost-sticky, spongy bread encased in a perfectly chewy crust, fresh and warm out of the oven. If you do miss out (as may happen on Saturdays), Iggy's also sells coffee and croissants, so you can still pull up a stool and enjoy the cool vinyl soundtrack. Must order: Their sourdough croissants have a gentle, buttery earthiness, and ranked seven on our taste-test challenge. 31 Macpherson Street, Bronte, Pioik Pyrmont locals have it good. On a lazy morning they can roll out of bed and wander down to Pioik, where former fine-dining chef Shady Wasef has baked another delicious dilemma. Do they choose the almond croissant with brandy-boozed cream? The egg sandwich, stacked with fluffy omelette and jammy tomato chutney? Or the Simit – a sesame-crusted loop of bread dipped in pomegranate molasses? The winner is then bundled away, enjoyed back home with a takeaway cup of Primary Coffee. Best for: Rustic loaves and baked delights inspired by the owners' Egyptian roots. 176-178 Harris Street, Pyrmont, Tuga Pastries Come for the cinnamon-dusted pastel de nata, but stay for the hunky cheeseburger pies, choc-filled doughnuts and crunchy croissant sandwiches. Tuga might be known as a top purveyor of Portuguese tarts, but everything here is a banger (especially those pies). Owner Diogo Ferreira is bursting with ideas, which makes it tough to choose from the exciting array of sweet and savoury goodies. Friendly staff are on hand to help make the hard decisions. Good to know: For a more leisurely experience at Clovelly, visit nearby Tuga x Village. 231 Clovelly Road, Clovelly and 10/112 McEvoy Street, Alexandria Self Raised Bread Shoppe This small suburban bakery, with its stylised 1960s aesthetic, nails nostalgia. There's the strawberry cake, a gloriously simple sponge beneath thick vanilla icing and quartered strawberries. There are fast-emptying trays of sugar-dusted Boston doughnuts, generously filled with fresh cream. And the pizza focaccia, topped with basil and torn balls of mozzarella, comes in pre-shrinkflation proportions. Quality fare minus the fads. Good to know: Sister shop Self Raised Snack Shoppe can be found in Bexley North. 45 Jubilee Avenue, Carlton, Starlight Bakery It's not what you'd expect from a 25-year-old bakery near Doonside train station, but there it is: a mahogany-hued modernist space, oversized floral arrangement at its centre, selling savoury-sweet Filipino breads and pastries. The renovation is new, but the Filipino menu was a gradual takeover as original owners (the Aringo family) adjusted to community needs. Now helmed by Jeremiah Luya, the bakery combines tried-and-tested pandesal and cheese-dusted ensaymadas with new-wave additions including purple ube macapuno (coconut) cake. Good to know: You can dine-in, pairing your pastry with a specialty coffee or iced matcha latte. 17 Hill End Road, Doonside, Good Food's Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025, presented by T2, celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 11 categories, including icons, those best for food, tea, coffee and matcha, and where to get the city's best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. Download the Good Food app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store to discover what's near you.


Man of Many
10 hours ago
- Man of Many
Original Birkin Bag Crafted For Jane Birkin Heads to Auction
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Sydney Morning Herald
15 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Big Don fires up Bayswater council tilt after loo frustrations boil over
The founder of a renowned barbecue outlet and one of the state's most acclaimed restaurateurs will run for Bayswater council after another planning clash with the city over temporary toilets. Donovan MacDonald took to Instagram this week to declare his intention to run as a councillor in the West ward where he lives and where his popular restaurant Big Don's Smoked Meats – the first WA restaurant to receive a Good Food hat – is located. MacDonald said he considered running at the last election ago after butting heads with the council, but things had been good over the past two years. However, the latest dispute over temporary toilets – which MacDonald said came out of the blue and impacted the security of his business – spurred him to take the plunge. 'In the last two years, we've been pretty good. There haven't been any dramas, and I was too busy previously to be able to consider this,' he said. 'Now, my business is running pretty well. My team is phenomenal, and so I think I probably have the ability to actually do this.' The latest issue relates to temporary toilets installed in the unit next door, which is also used by Big Don's as space for waiting customers. The city said the toilets were installed without a building permit, and now MacDonald must get an occupancy permit for that unit space to resolve the toilet issue.