Bakeries

Savoury bread stick, Black Star Pastry, blackstarpastry.com.au

Don't settle for a plain baguette. This bread stick – swirled with pesto, parmesan, feta and mushrooms – is a far better bet. Unrolling it from the grease-catching bag is part of the fun.

Potato and rosemary loaf, Bourke Street Bakery, bourkestreetbakery.com.au

Affectionately called "Mr Potato Head", this sourdough evokes the classic pizza bianca topping. Each slice reveals a jackpot of roasted potatoes and rosemary. Try making your own loaf with Bourke Street Bakery's cookbook.

Garlic bread, Brasserie Bread, brasseriebread.com.au

Even hardline vampires might by tempted by this caramelised garlic loaf. The pillowy Italian dough is studded with sweet chunky cloves that are slow-cooked with balsamic vinegar and cracked black peppercorns.

Country sourdough, Iggy's Bread, iggysbread.com

Baked at 5am, after a long fermentation process, Iggy's sourdough inspires queues outside the Bronte store and a spot on the bread plates at restaurants such as Kensington Street Social and Bistro Guillaume.

Olive loaf, Sonoma, sonoma.com.au

Imagine a bowl of kalamata olives in bread form: this chewy loaf is shot through with the headline ingredient and sprigs of oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram and lavender.

Restaurants

Automata, automata.com.au

Baked in trays of 30 rolls, Automata's bread comes in soft, pull-apart portions. Made with unbleached and wholemeal stoneground flour, it's paired with a whipped butter flavoured with chicken jus and anchovy.

Ester, ester-restaurant.com.au

The sourdough from Ester's wood-fired oven rightly has a fanbase, but don't overlook the restaurant's well-blistered, salt-flecked serves of potato bread, made from mash fermented for up to four days.

Firedoor, firedoor.com.au

Customised loaves from Pioik Bakery are finished in Firedoor's wood-fired oven, and served with butter smoked over plum wood and sprouted rye toasted over coals.

Ormeggio at the Spit, ormeggio.com.au

The crunch of Ormeggio's sourdough is well matched by the in-house ricotta topped with chives and black pepper.

Sixpenny, sixpenny.com.au

Leftover loaves are blitzed into a powder, recharged with a 10-year-old starter named Bob, new dough, and further boosted with coffee and golden syrup for a toffee-like profile.