Overview
A quiet corner of Darlington is now home to its very own roastery, courtesy of coffee enthusiast and former Australian Barista Championship judge Cedric Kim. The 32-seat cafe offers quality eats, backyard seating and, most importantly, bottomless coffee for all.
Customers can choose from all-you-can-drink batch or cold brew for just $7 — a nearly unheard of perk on Sydney shores. To keep his offering constantly evolving, Kim sources fresh beans from Alexandria's Collective Roasting Solutions every week. At the moment, the milk blend coffees use beans from Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia and Guatemala. The single-origin offer changes every week, too — right now those beans are from Burundi, Africa. "I want my customers to really get a sense of different characteristics of beans from all around the world," says Kim.
Filtered, iced and pour over (using the high tech GINA) also make the menu. If you're not feeling like a coffee, there's also a house-blend brown sugar chai — steeped for 12 hours and brewed with almond milk — smoothies, gelato milkshakes and fresh juices on offer.
Tanya Saint James
In the kitchen, Head Chef Muhammad (Obi) Owais takes the freshness of his food very seriously — the cafe receives a daily delivery from a local supplier and uses only those ingredients on the day. You'll find the Ivy Bruschetta (sourdough toast rubbed with garlic and topped with multi-coloured cherry tomatoes, boconccini and basil) and the Roaster's Eggs (free-range poached eggs and chorizo in a house-made tomato sauce with sourdough), along with a smoked pulled pork burger, which has already become a neighbourhood favourite, according to Kim. "People lick the plate all the time," he says.
For vegetarians, the polenta sounds especially tasty, served with a mix of wild mushrooms and a poached egg and drizzled with truffle oil.
Set in the residential side of Darlington, Kim wasn't looking to draw a big crowd with this venture. "I didn't want a main road shop because I want people coming in bit-by-bit and seeing that we do things differently," says Kim. "I want to really focus on making the best possible coffee, and if we are crazy busy it just won't work."
Terra Cotta Roasters is now open at 1/74–80 Ivy Lane, Darlington. Opening hours are 7am–3pm daily.
Images: Tanya Saint James