Chefs Isabella and John Laureti spent three years transforming a two-storey Federation-era shopfront into Lewi, a live-in cafe where they dreamed of slowing down and starting a family together.It was no small investment. The property, at Victoria Street in Lewisham, had been boarded up since 2017. The paint was peeling, the plaster was falling from the ceiling, and the floorboards had come loose. “We just went for it,” said John Laureti. After 15 years of working long hours at fine dining restaurants, including Rockpool Bar and Grill and Pt. Leo Estate, the couple were ready for a lifestyle change. They wanted early nights, a place of their own, and to make food that felt both elevated and approachable. Owners and chefs, Isabella Leva Laureti and husband John Laureti at Cafe Lewi, in Lewisham.Sam Mooy“We opened a successful little bakery during COVID, so we thought [that could work] if we want to start a family one day — the hours of a restaurant … getting to bed at 1, 2, 3’o’clock in the morning, it wasn’t ideal,” he said.What Laureti hadn’t bargained for, however, was how the Sydney cafe sector had evolved over the past three years. Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.Sign upIn 2026, a cafe is not just a cafe. It’s more nuanced than that — it is also a wine bar, a study hall and a media brand; it serves cold foam coffee with the same cocktail flair as Sydney’s Maybe Sammy bar, food with the subtle complexity of a fine-dining kitchen, and invites you to stay after dark. It’s cafes such as Ard in Stanmore, where self-taught baker Christiana Daaboul experiments with plant-based ingredients to develop a new menu each month. Or Adhika in Rushcutters Bay, where chef-owner Francis dela Cruz serves a pandesal brekkie roll with a hamon bulakenya that takes him three days to make. Or Serva, in Seaforth (second location imminent), where every condiment, from the blueberry lavender jam to the zaatar crisp, is made in-house. It’s places like these that are showcased in 100 Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2026, a guide that spans the southwest to the northeast. Some, such as Abla’s Pastries in Granville, have been around for more than 30 years. Others, like Ca Phe Mai in Rose Bay, opened in June. It is a celebration of everything these venues bring to their communities, and they are doing more than ever before.At Seeker in Cabramatta, baristas act more like bartenders, garnishing bubbles atop elaborate blends of teas, coffees and creams; at Sundays in Bondi, self-taught baker Laetitia Loefti makes cinnamon scrolls while scoring brand deals on social media; and at Lewi, Laureti has returned to dinner service – one of several new and established cafes to open nights, including Pocket (Bondi), Jinius (Dawes Point) and Ca Phe Mai.Some cocktail flair action at Cabramatta’s Seeker. Dion Georgopoulos“As a small business, every dollar counts,” Laureti said. “It’s pushing the limits on what we can do, it’s a lot of hours, but it’s all on me and my wife. There’s nobody else. If this doesn’t work, then … this is our entire lives.”Australian cafes and restaurants enjoyed a renaissance in the years post-COVID, spurred by renewed gratitude for the simple joys of hospitality outside the home. They were also among the hardest-hit industries when the prices of fuel, wages and wholesale food started to skyrocket. On paper, the industry continues to grow. In reality, the churn is real: more than one in 10 hospitality venues shut in 2025, according to CreditorWatch data. “It’s been really hard,” said Laureti. Customers aren’t spending as much on breakfast, sometimes the dining room sits near-empty at lunchtime. “But we do it because we love it.”Newcomers, like Lewi, apply fine-dining techniques to cafe fare to stand apart. The Lauretis make everything, from the hash browns to the delicately frosted marjolaine cakes, from scratch. Jinius owner Yeongjin Park.Janie Barrett“There’s a growing expectation that [cafe] food will carry the same level of thought and execution as restaurants, but in a more accessible format,” said chef Jerry Jeong. After six years at three-hatted restaurant Quay, Jeong partnered with renowned baker Yeongjin Park to open their Dawes Point bakery-cafe Jinius in April. Park formerly worked at Picco Leo, run by Federico Zanellato, who also runs three-hated Lumi. Sourdough and pastries are on the menu, baked with various rice ferments for greater depth of flavour, and served alongside dishes like Atlantic salmon, cured and smoked on cherry wood.Cafe Baby Finger, a Camperdown cafe opened in February, is led by chef John Jeong, who spent eight years working fine-dining restaurants in France (La Grande Bouffe, Le Bouchon). The sides go beyond the norm to include roast garlic labne, potato skin chips and celeriac fennel remoulade.“We never separated cafe food from restaurant food,” said Park. “A guest spending $25 on brunch deserves the same level of care as someone spending $250 on dinner.”Join the lines at Sundays in Bondi. Edwina PicklesRegular customers are paramount to survival, said Laureti. Where longstanding cafes such as St Jude in Redfern prioritise consistency to steadily build and retain regulars, newcomers engineer it – hosting run clubs, coffee raves, artisan markets, and even free group therapy sessions (a brief program at Volume One in Bondi). Community is at the heart of Taguan, a Filipino cafe in Darlington that hosts Aktibo Run Club, theatre events and pop-up markets with Magenta House. “Hospitality is not just serving someone well, it’s also helping them find where they belong,” said Jose Margo Flores, who co-owns the business with partner Vincent Mark Baquiran. They plan to implement night service before the end of winter. “Opening the space for different communities unlocks a new set of eyes … it’s like welcoming a new audience every time.”In July, hundreds of people packed into Cabramatta’s Freedom Square for Seeker’s belated “launch” party, dancing to a daytime DJ set. “Seeing hundreds upon hundreds of people … embracing our event was absolutely surreal,” said owner-barista Jimmy Truong.“Great quality coffee, matcha and service is already the minimum expectation. Customers [look] for an emotional connection, a place they [feel] part of.“If people walk away with a memorable experience … the business will naturally benefit.”Myra Karakelle, owner of MLK Deli in Surry Hills.Dominic LorrimerEvent footage gets posted on social media to increase brand awareness. MLK Deli may never have opened its first sandwich shop in Surry Hills, were it not for the Instagram account Myra Karakelle developed while learning to cook the Uzbek food of her heritage.“It’s not like 10 years ago when you’d know your local cafe because you lived down the street. It’s online … all of that stems from social media presence,” said Karakelle. MLK Deli in The Rocks.Dion GeorgopoulosAt first, she tried to hide in the kitchen. People wanted her food, not her face, she reasoned. Not so – customers travelled for the pastrami sandwiches, and to meet the woman behind them. Now, she’s a regular fixture on Instagram, sharing her thoughts, family and passions, alongside stuffed wagyu sandwiches, to more than 19,000 followers. “People want to understand that the business is these random people coming in every day trying their best,” she said.Laureti is determined to make it work. He’s listening to the locals, paring back his menu, and doubling down on steak frites nights. “I want to run towards the challenge, rather than run away from it, and if it doesn’t end up working, at least I can tell myself we took that chance,” Laureti said. “I always like to bite, then figure out how to chew.”The 100 Essential Cafes and Bakeries of Sydney 2026 launches on Friday, July 24. All venues are reviewed anonymously. The best way to experience the guide is the Good Food app, where you can search via a map or collections. It’s available as a standalone subscription and is included in premium digital Sydney Morning Herald subscriptions. Download it from the Apple App Store or theGoogle Play Store.The guide is published in the Good Food lift-outs in The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, July 24, and Sunday, July 26, and the following week on Friday, July 31, and Sunday, August 2.