• Artisan bread rising in the land of the great white loaf
• Recipe: Brasserie Bread’s wholemeal loaf
• Recipes: bread from around the world

Kitchen by Mike

Classic sourdough

Mike McEnearney knows what people like: no-nonsense, pillowy sourdough sliced as thick as a thumb and slathered with Pepe Saya butter. Perfect for mopping up the juices on your mess-hall plate of wood-roasted herb chicken.

85 Dunning Ave, Rosebery, 02 9045 0910, kitchenbymike.com.au

Iggy's Bread of the World

Dark rye

"Iggy's is about as far away from soft, pappy supermarket bread as you can get," says Sydney Morning Herald chief food critic Terry Durack. "This is bread you can live on, with a super-tough crust, a fabulously earthy aroma, and flavour that will make anything you put on it taste even better."

49 Belgrave St, Bronte, 02 9369 1650, iggysbread.com

Sonoma

Miche

This giant-sized boule has a lovely dark crumb that could make even a slice of devon look edible placed upon it.

32-44 Birmingham St, Alexandria, 02 8338 1051, sonoma.com.au. Also at Woollahra, Paddington, Glebe, Waterloo and Bondi.

Bread and Butter Project

Beer and barley sourdough

This social enterprise isn't just providing employment pathways for communities in need. They also produce tremendous bread, available at locations and markets across Sydney. The densely crumbed beer and barley sourdough is ideal for dipping in winter soups.

02 8073 7988, thebreadandbutterproject.com

Afghan and Arab Bakery

Afghan bread

"I absolutely love their flatbread hot out of the clay oven," says SMH Good Food Under $30 editor Angie Schiavone.

2/13 Nelson St, Fairfield, 02 9728 1832, afghanbread.com.au

Organic Bread Bar

Light rye

Ten points to Andreas Rost and his team for continuing to bake throughout the day. The joy of purchasing a light rye hot from the oven in the afternoon should not be underestimated.

356 South Dowling St, Paddington, 02 9357 4448, organicbreadbar.com.au

Luxe

Rustic high tin

There's two things that sourdough can't do. One is hold together a burger, the other is taste good with marmalade. Making your own jam with surplus fruit and spreading it on high-tin toast is about as Country Living as it gets.

191 Missenden Rd, Newtown, 02 8084 1775, luxesydney.com.au. Also at Bondi and Woollahra.

Brickfields

Rye and caraway

How nice it is to walk down Redfern's Cleveland Street and smell baked goods and not smoggy traffic. The rye and caraway loaf from baking's cool kids begs to be introduced to some pastrami and coleslaw.

206 Cleveland St, Chippendale, 02 9698 7880, facebook.com/brickfieldsbakery

Arras Too

Any loaf, really

Quality bread is hard to come by in the city, so thank organic goodness for Arras Too, attached to the hatted Restaurant Arras. You can grab one of their changing loaf varieties to take home, or eat it in sandwich form.

204 Clarence St, Sydney, 02 9283 4268, restaurantarras.com.au

Infinity Sourdough Bakery

Soy and linseed

The great Phillip Searle was one of the first chefs to introduce sourdough to Sydney in the late '90s with Infinity Bakery. Searle is no longer at the helm, but that doesn't make Infinity's soy and linseed bread any less brilliant.

15A Market Lane, Manly, 02 9977 4340, infinitysourdough.com.au. Also at Darlinghurst.

Grumpy Baker

Walnut and fig loaf

The dark density hooks you at first whiff. This is fruit toast for grown-ups, says goodfood.com.au editor Sarah McInerney. ''Perfect slathered with butter and consumed with a hot cuppa.''

767 Old South Head Rd, Vaucluse, 02 9337 5179, thegrumpybaker.com.au

Out of Town

Autolyse, 21 Lonsdale St, Braddon, 02 6262 8819 (also at Central Park, Broadway); Berry Sourdough, 23 Prince Alfred St, Berry, 02 4464 1617; Harvest, 18-22 Old Pacific Hwy, Newrybar, 02 6687 2644.