X & Co wears its art on its sleeve. A photo exhibition hangs along one wall, there's a video installation projected on another wall, children kids can entertain themselves with chalk-board easels, and a painted piano invites "Play me, I'm yours". The display wall has been creatively constructed with wooden palettes, which have also been used to build a courtyard space out the front, providing bench seats, a hanging herb garden and shielding customers from the street. 

A sign on the wall next to the counter says, "Since we opened in March we have raised $7200 for the local arts community."

To the casual observer, Chandos Street in St Leonards does not appear to be an arts hub, but look a bit closer and you'll find the streets around X & Co are dotted with creative businesses, including photo galleries, art studios, a classical music radio station, rehearsal spaces, bicycle workshop and an arts and craft supplies shop. This week, the Lonely Kids Club independent fashion label opened just around the corner on Atchison Street.

The cafe is a co-production between two friends, James Winter and Luke Dal Santo. Winter is the director of Brand X, a not-for-profit arts organisation he started 11 years ago. Working with property developers, landlords and local government, he finds spaces that are not being used to give artists room to work. His first project was in Chippendale, as the Central Park site on Broadway was developed, and he has done similar work in Surry Hills, Marrickville and Tempe. 

He started on the St Leonards creative precinct two years ago in partnership with TWT, a property developer that owns a large chunk of real estate here that will eventually be turned into apartment blocks. It often takes years for plans to be approved and construction to start, while the buildings sit empty. "About 50 artists have been given space who otherwise wouldn't have anywhere to work," Winter says.

A music producer and DJ, Dal Santo runs Bsidesound, also on Atchison Street, an electronic music studio that provides affordable spaces to write, rehearse and record. He also has culinary skills and is in charge of X & Co's European-style menu, with an ever-changing specials board that includes garlic prawns, Moroccan chickpea soup and scotch fillet sandwich the day we visit.

On the all-day breakfast menu, lovely fluffy smashed avocado and ricotta on sourdough is spiked with mint. The rocket salad has goodly proportions of prosciutto, pear, pecans and big chunks of gorgonzola, and the hefty cheeseburger with Swiss cheese and relish comes in a squishy sesame-seed bun with a pickle on top, though the "side slaw" turns out to be an unadorned pile of red cabbage. 

The food is not sophisticated or pretty, but hearty and homely, with quality coffee by Pablo and Rusty. At the large shared dining table next to us, a group of young women have gathered for flat whites and hot chocolates, while an older couple occupy a pair of white wicker chairs with sunny yellow cushions, very 1970s Vogue Living. Another woman sits alone, working on her laptop. "We encourage people to come and hang out even if they're not buying anything," Dal Santo says. "It's making a social space, not just a cafe."

Their lease has demolition clause – eventually they will have to move, but they expect to be here for a couple of years, and are making the most of it, lobbying for a liquor license and planning to host events at night. At the back of the cafe, a meeting room with a long table is available to hire, and the art on the walls, usually made locally, changes every two weeks. The money raised from the cafe helps subsidise rent and pay insurance for artist tenants in the precinct, and the plan is to offer a performing arts residency, giving dancers and actors free rehearsal space to develop a new work.

Meanwhile, curious customers can pick up a brochure and have a wander to visit the galleries, studios and creative types who have colonised the area. It's well worth the price of a coffee.

THE PICKS

Smashed avocado; cheese burger

THE COFFEE

Pablo and Rusty's Porter Street blend

THE LOOK

Casual light-industrial with potted palms

THE VALUE

Good. Smashed avocado, $9.50; cheese burger, $12

NEARBY

Contact Sheet photo gallery and Platform 72 art gallery, 60-62 Atchison Street, St Leonards