Ride the Metro line for a morning in the inner west, where lavender blackberry lamingtons, a stunning new sunlit parkside general store and treats from a cult-favourite corner cafe are on the menu.
Another Whisk
On the cusp of opening the first bricks-and-mortar venue for his successful micro-bakery Another Whisk in the inner-west, former Great Australian Bake Off contestant Anirban Chanda is serving devotees of his South Asian and native ingredient-flavoured cakes, tarts and lamingtons at Kirribilli Markets.
“I’ve been awake all night baking,” he says, beaming passionately before lavender blackberry lamingtons, chocolate coffee wattleseed cake, leatherwood honey macadamia cake and a saffron pistachio raspberry tart inspired by the traditional Indian ice-cream kulfi.
Slices of dark caramel-coloured Bengal date-palm jaggery Basque cheesecake are almost snapped up, but I snaffle the last wedge of Chanda’s equally popular mango saffron yoghurt cake. Plump and delicate, it’s a tiered marvel of beautifully light sponge, creamy mango curd, yoghurt and mascarpone, layered with fresh mango and scented with cardamon and saffron, the latter gently roasted then bloomed in warm milk to release its flavour.
Chanda, who grew up in the Bengal region of India, an area known for its dessert culture and sweets, moved to Australia in 2020 and deepened his home baking passions in lockdown. A blossoming social media presence followed before he entered season eight of The Great Australian Bake Off, reaching fifth place.
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Baking professionally as Another Whisk began in 2024 with Chanda leaving his almost two-decade-long corporate career to focus on the business. The new Illawarra Road venue is timed perfectly to take advantage of the new Metro line, and is a place he’d like to represent an “overall philosophy of coffee, chai and adda, [a] Bengali term for chatter”. Staple favourites and seasonal cakes will be available alongside savoury items including spicy chicken Chettinad curry pie with wattleseed shortcrust pastry. Drinks include specialty coffee and Bengali-style masala chai with ginger, cardamom and fennel.
“Once I settle in I’d like to host cookbook clubs and supper clubs as well,” he says. “I really want to bring a community spirit to the place.”
Opening December, Illawarra Road, Marrickville, anotherwhisk.com
The Naked Baker
Self-taught baker Dino Manoleskos never imagined the food truck kitchen he opened (and built) in 2022 would evolve into a successful 180-seat Mortdale cafe, let alone an additional, 100-seat cafe on Marrickville’s Addison Road four years later.
“I actually didn’t want to go to Marrickville because it was too intimidating,” he says. “You’re playing with the big sharks and I’m just starting out. But then I thought, ‘Why not? If I fail now, I’m 25. I’ll do it again’.”
Five weeks after opening his second outpost of The Naked Baker, his punt has proved a sage one, with queues forming for Manoleskos’s dainty, buttery croissants, cream-topped berry “cinnabuns”, vanilla-slice doughnut and baker’s hot dog focaccia that put his Mortdale cafe on the map.
The Marrickville corner cafe, all clean lines in shades of olive and charcoal, has three signatures: a miso-caramel apple turnover bursting with nutmeg custard; a blueberry matcha; and a Vietnamese salted cold foam latte. But I’m a sucker for the croffle Benedict, a crunchy baked croissant-waffle served with spinach, poached egg, hollandaise and a whopping inch-thick slab of glistening bacon drizzled with a generous whirl of maple syrup.
Manoleskos, who describes himself as “obsessive”, has plans for 10 more Naked Baker venues in Sydney within the next five years. “Each one with their own personality,” he says. “I don’t want you to walk in and recognise the place.”
Open Mon-Sat 7am-3pm, Sun 8am-3pm
23-29 Addison Road, Marrickville, thenakedbaker.com.au
Marrickville Park General Store
Once upon a time the local corner shop was a staple for grabbing fresh ingredients and produce at all hours, whether on the commute home before dinner for that one extra ingredient, or at dawn’s chorus for milk, bread and a newspaper. Mao Van Starrex and partner Michael Goodey, known for Marrickville cafe Bespoke & Grind, missed it enough to expand into the corner building next door and open Marrickville Park General Store.
A labour of love and a visual cornucopia, the shop’s plant-filled, dark-walled, brass and wood-ed Victorian-esque interior (formerly a suite of healthcare practices) was designed meticulously by Van Starrex and hand built by Goodey with friend Hurricane Bestman, who shares a set-building background.
Featuring mirrored repurposed shelves lit like jewellery displays, visitors can find pickles, tinned goods, vinegars, crackers, pasta and chips near a hand-built counter with brass palm emblems mirroring the palm trees in Marrickville Park across the road. A central table of baskets and bowls offers carrots, beetroot, cabbage, rhubarb, lemons, garlic bulbs, potatoes, spring peas and more.
Fridges contain gourmet mushrooms from Ruffle Farm in St Peters, Marrickville’s Vannella Cheese and cuts from Dulwich Hill Gourmet Meats, plus ice-creams and ready-made dinners from Van Starrex’s cafe kitchen. There’s a Pepe Saya milk library (swap an empty for a filled bottle), Fuel Bakery bread and fresh flower bunches. Locals pick up their newspapers here to read on footpath tables with coffee from Bespoke and Grind.
“People enjoy coming here to interact,” Van Starrex says. “And we don’t get upset if kids touch something. It’s very interesting to watch them pick up a vegetable and go, ‘What’s this?’.”
Secret tip: go on Sundays when Goodey, who ran Sydney nightclubs for decades, opens his tiny, hand-built record store at the back for vinyl sales and tunes spun on two turntables.
Open daily 7.30am-7pm
78 Livingstone Road, Marrickville, instagram.com/marrickvilleparkgeneralstore
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