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Mike Russell, co-owner of cult bakery Baker Bleu, has two words for veteran chef Neil Perry. “Sandwich king,” he says.

Perry – an ardent fan of Mike and Mia Russell, whose bread and pastries are famous in Melbourne and served in Perry’s restaurants – fires right back. “The best bread in the country,” he says.

Put the two together – people and baked dough – and Baker Bleu in Double Bay, a joint venture between Perry and the Russells, is the answer.

Designed by IF Architecture in Melbourne, and sitting beside two Perry restaurants – Margaret and Next Door – Baker Bleu opened in September.

It is the third Baker Bleu outlet, and the first in Sydney, after the Russells left for Melbourne in 2016, keen to bake bread away from Sydney’s stifling business costs.

Now, adored by Melbourne customers and restaurants, their bread, pizza and pastries are baking near their old 𝄒hood.

“It’s amazing to be back here,” Russell says. “I was working at Iggy’s in Bronte and living in Clovelly back then. Life was pretty good so it was a lot to say goodbye to.”

Today, standing in the Baker Bleu premises in Double Bay, he marvels at the enterprise.

“I mean, we’ve got a seven-tonne, five-deck gas-fired oven and we’re, what four, five kilometres from the city?” he says.

“If you want fresh bread, and you’re anywhere nearby, this is the place to get it, apart from Iggy’s. Here you get that Neil Perry magic between each slice.”

Perry – whose Baker Bleu sandwiches range from poached chicken to Walker albacore tuna, Blackmore wagyu beef, egg and mayonnaise and hand-sliced smoked salmon – never tires of things between bread.

“A sandwich is almost the perfect food,” he says. “I come in every morning and it’s really hard not to immediately make a little mini roast beef on rye. Oh and the baguettes, I love their crunch.”

He also loves the Baker Bleu pizza. “Mike was making pizzas originally and we’ve added a few flavours,” he says. “But the base of it, you’ve got this amazing sourdough, and the development of flavour that pizza gets, it’s just extraordinary.”

The key pull of Baker Bleu is high-quality food elements from two revered food creators at relatively affordable prices.

Eat a dazzling sourdough croissant with ham and cheese or the Blackmore wagyu salt beef sandwich with pickled onion and chillies on rye while sitting on a stretch of footpath buzzing with curation.

Perry’s patch, opposite tree-edged Guilfoyle Square, feels like a mini European city replete with Australian accents. Dapperly dressed food-lovers whisk away bags of khorasan tin loaves, Vegemite and cheese twists, seeded spelt or racks of seeded bagels. Some pull bread ends off to eat on the way home.

A dedicated coffee counter means you can sip espresso in bright, wintry sunshine while pulling apart a beautifully rich chocolatine or wallopingly good cinnamon twists in minutes.

Frankly, if a European holiday is out of the question, pack a bus pass and emigrate here. Baker Bleu’s round shrub-edged tables sit on a boulevard milling with elegance, even if the slices of margarita or pumpkin and feta pizza are too engrossing.

“Lots of people say to us, ‘Oh my god, it’s like sitting in the south of France,’” Perry says. “It’s a beautiful spot.”

Perry says the quality ingredients used, created with kitchens at his nearby restaurants, set Baker Bleu apart from a normal sandwich shop.

“David Blackmore’s beef, Walker MSC tuna,” he says. “Then you add CopperTree butter, proper Murray River salt and, of course, the best bread going. It makes a great sandwich.”

When the eating has ended, peruse Baker Bleu’s hefty marble counter. Special shelving inlets feature marmalade, eggs, peanut butter, chocolate and Baker Bleu’s own Golden Granola to buy. Take home the khorasan or super country loaf for excellent toast, their crusts offering a golden crackling chew as melting butter seeps through the pillowy core.

Or just hold onto your table, miss the next bus and consider the beautiful, wallet-friendly union of Perry and the Russells.

“That,” says my father, after finishing the poached chicken sandwich, “is a good sandwich.”

Russell later agrees. “No better judgment than that.”