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The most delicious thing I’ve eaten in the past month was a single-serve pizza in a Marrickville brewery. Specifically, A.P Bakery’s wedge of perfectly chewy schiacciata bread (like a crunchy focaccia) generously topped with ribbons of prosciutto, neon-red peppers and fermented chilli sauce at Wildflower Brewing and Blending. It was a slice with the kind of textures, flavour and heat that stops a conversation.

A.P (it stands for All Purpose) was co-founded two years ago by the owners of Surry Hills’ Paramount House Hotel, chef Mat Lindsay (of Chippendale’s two-hatted Ester) and baker Dougal Muffet.

If you’ve been to A.P’s Surry Hills or Newtown stores, you’ll know that Muffet is a baker of exacting talent. There’s a beautiful edge of caramelisation and fermentation to many of his breads and pastries, which include naturally leavened bagels, buttermilk croissants and one single-malt whisky canele to rule them all.

Wildflower, meanwhile, was established in 2016 by brewers Topher Boehm and Chris Allen. It stands out from a crowded craft-brewing scene by fermenting beers with yeast and bacteria collected from native flowers; its wild ales are to Tooheys New what Penfolds Grange is to a box of Fruity Gordo.

With a shared commitment to sustainability and exploring the possibilities of fermentation, the brewery and baker teamed up to launch a bistro in April.

Everything I’ve eaten from A.P’s short menu at Wildflower has been a slap of flavour just like that pizza rosso ($12). It’s also bloody well-priced.

The $20 balsamic-glazed pork ribs (seasoned with fennel salt and inspired by the similarly messy, tangy ribs once served at Surry Hills wine bar 121BC) are better value than most dishes at most Sydney restaurants.

Unlike the food trucks and stalls which usually roll through breweries, A.P is at Wildflower’s cellar door for the long run. And yes, “cellar door”, not “tap room”. The brewery ages its beers in oak barrels stacked to the timber rafters of its 1900s-built shed, and with dozens of dusty bottles lining the walls, you could well be in a Belgian farmhouse.

A glorious heap of pork rillettes ($16), served with mustard, pickles and a crusty baguette, helps complete the daydream. Order a citrusy Gold Blend ale ($8) for some delicate, slightly barnyard-y aromas on the side.

Everything I’ve eaten from A.P’s short menu has been a slap of flavour. It’s also bloody well-priced.

Several seats are left for walk-in guests but, if you want to be guaranteed a chair rather than a stool, I’d book online. Wine barrels repurposed as tables sure do look nice, but they can be damn uncomfortable to sit at when your only options are to perch side-saddle or straddle them like you’re riding a Clydesdale.

The reservations page also has check-boxes you can tick for “pram” and “I’ll be bringing my dog”. It’s important to know your local market.

Everyone seems to order the hot chips ($9) dusted in a zesty spice mix, which taste just like – dated reference incoming – McDonald’s old “Mexican” shaker fries. They’re pretty great with those ribs, as is a deeply savoury potato salad boosted with chives and tiny curls of cured egg yolk ($12).

(The chips are probably terrific with a $30 prosciutto, parmesan and sage-topped quail schnitzel, too, but I can’t confirm because it’s always sold out when I visit.)

Word to the wise: more than one crunchy, fluffy cheese and cauliflower croquette with hot sauce ($6) will ruin you for the rest of the meal. They’re huge.

And if you want to make it to the dense and silky Basque cheesecake sharpened with kumquat jam ($12), you might also consider splitting one of the pies between two. There’s a warrigal green and ricotta-filled number, or a beef and “beer stroganoff” option. Both are $13, super-flaky and delicious.

Staff are informed and friendly, and when they’re not choosing a vinyl record to spin (George Benson; Nashville Skyline; psychedelic African desert blues), they’re guiding customers through the range of house ales, guest beers, and a handful of wines and kombuchas. You get the sense that Wildflower is a good place to work. I think I would enjoy working at the brewery, too, which is quickly becoming my favourite place to drink beer and eat bar snacks in Australia.

I must also mention the milk bun filled with radicchio, hot honey and halloumi-inspired Jersey milk cheese ($24). Chef Colin Wood is in charge of the curds and his Goldstreet Dairy is set to start full-time production at Wildflower as we go to print. I look forward to seeing what he does with the pizza.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine