Locals knew something special was on the cards back in 2013 when bleary-eyed workers crafting loaves and pastries deep into the night first appeared in the glass-fronted bakery that is Brickfields (206 Cleveland St). They now bake in Marrickville to keep up with demand, but just as impressive brekky and lunch options come out of the original tiny kitchen. Even more impressive is the buzz they’ve brought to the area: mornings see locals perched out front with coffees (specially blended by Mecca), bacon sambos with kale and chipotle, and the flakiest croissants in town – they even throw annual street parties with neighbours OTIS Records. Don’t go past their Persian Love Cakes either, a pistachio-topped steal at $5.

Thai fusion might not sound like what you want for breakfast, but it should, and tiny Glider KS (26 Kensington St) is why. Ease into the day with sticky rice, mango and berries and a purple smoothie, sit on a Single Origin coffee, or go big with ‘duck brekky noodles’.

Five courses for $88 (plus plenty of snacks) leaves no excuse for not checking out ex-Momofuku Seiobo chef Clayton Wells’ Automata (5 Kensington St), especially when they’re this good. The menu changes constantly, but an early visit is indicative of the style – crisp endive hearts are glazed in violet mustard as starters, the outer leaves envelop quail and burnt apple later in the night. Bar snacks such as burrata injected with shellfish oil are a great excuse to try sommelier Tim Watkin’s varied drinks list too, featuring sake and skin-contact wines.

Wander through four levels of Chinese contemporary art at White Rabbit Gallery (30 Balfour St) – a trailblazer opened by the Neilson Foundation in 2009. Their current exhibition, Heavy Artillery, includes He Xiangyu’s ambitious Tank Project and an installation from Xu Zhen. Make a day of it and fill up on Chinese teas and dumplings in their tea house, too.

Part-time sports bar, sometimes late-night rager, with an upstairs artspace and all-day good food. This is the revamped Lord Gladstone (115 Regent St), where beers are cheap, local, or both, burgers are spot on, and the deep-fried Golden Gaytime with pistachio and caramel is so good it should be illegal.

There are endless possibilities under the lights and lanterns of Kopi-Tiam Spice Alley (Kensington St). The best way to eat here? Grab some friends, clamber for a table, and go all-in, sharing plates from four different stalls. These might be roti from Alex Lee Kitchen, congee with fried bread from Hong Kong Diner, Thai mussel fritters from Bang Luck or smoky char kway teow (Malaysian noodles) from Old Jim Kee.

“There’s a New York-y vibe in Chippendale, a real industrial feel with old factories, creatives and artists – I always wanted to open here,” explains Tony Vacher (pictured), owner of 1930s-inspired hairdresser Sterling Apothecary (25 Meagher St). Vacher, who has a second location in Surry Hills, is the man behind all the slick-looking locals around the area – including the team at LP’s Quality Meats. Book in to a studded leather chair for classic his & her scissor cuts and luxurious cut-throat shaves.

The House Specialty Coffee (Suite 9, 9 Knox St) is a sweet spot in the streets down the leafy end of Chippendale. Pull up a stool outside and soak up the sun with weekly changing single origin coffee (left), avo toast and your best reading material. Then come closing time, Knox St Bar (hidden in the back) opens, where local actors do occasional reads of Australian fiction and guests pay just $13 and ‘Spin The Wheel’ to choose their cocktail.

A Michelin-starred chef with more pedigree (and restaurants) than you can shake a stick at, all day service, killer cocktails – Vegemite martini included – and a sense of Old World charm with an industrial edge. Kensington Street Social (3 Kensington St), from British chef Jason Atherton, feels like a big deal, landing in The Old Clare with a flurry of poise and polish. It’s a big machine in brass, concrete and glass where British touches highlight local ingredients – the curry butter served with WA marron and burnt lime (pictured), for example – and the execution is top level. Kale, dressed with pear and bottarga, soaks up sea urchin butter while spanner crab plays off cucumber gazpacho granita. The kicker? Breakfast is tops, too, and less than $20.

“I bought a whole pig two weeks ago and turned the whole thing into salami. We just have to wait a month now.” This is a pretty standard sentence to hear from Luke Powell (above), who went in hard with LP’s Quality Meats (Unit 1, 16 Chippen St) in mid-2014 in the suburb he’d lived in for seven years. One huge smoker from Tennessee later and the ex-Tetsuya’s head chef was churning out enormous beef short ribs and house made sausages (try the lamb belly stuffed with merguez) with a level of finesse that belied the subject matter, and making his own bread, pickles and cured meats to boot. Now hungry diners line up out front, or sit at the bar with plates of smoked trout or boudin, sipping on cocktails and beers as they wait for a table.

Eyebrows raised when Mat Lindsay opened Ester (46-52 Meagher St) in a refurbished loading dock in 2013, but he wrote his own story. Diners flocked. Hats were won. And his little wood-fired neighbourhood venue transformed into the poster-restaurant for Chippendale. That cauliflower, roasted whole and served with almond cream and mint, has a lot to answer for. As do his blood sausage sangas, headlining a share menu straddling the bold and the familiar, with wood-roasted cuts from whole animals down the heavy end. Walk in for dinner mid-week or try Sunday lunch, and don’t forget their natural wines.

Diehards may or may not appreciate the lobby bar’s beer-stain inspired carpet and the $5 Resch’s that’s kept on the menu as a nod to the popular pub’s past, but like it or not, revamped The Old Clare Hotel (1 Kensington St) is slick, suave and retrospective all at once with its luxe finishes set against exposed brick walls. And yes, that’s a bathtub in the middle of your room. Grab a rosé, dip your feet in the water and stare out at the city from the rooftop pool and bar, or use it as a launchpad to explore the suburb and the shopping at Central Park. One more bonus? Kensington Street Social runs room service and breakfast, so you know it’s good.

Expect no less than eight courses from former Noma chef Sam Miller at Silvereye (20 Broadway), and that’s the ‘express’ lunch (dinner will last about 11 or 17). While ample, the menu – snack-heavy and keenly focused – never feels a slog. Spanish mackerel is cooked lightly over coals and served with three types of cucumber, salt-baked beetroot is sliced thin and dressed with blackcurrant, and skin-contact wines and drops from small producers work with the airy fit-out to keep you engaged all the way.

Tucked down an alley since 2012, Freda’s (107-109 Regent St) has become a haven for local musicians, DJs and events (their David Bowie tribute was legendary). Go midweek for arepas (Columbian flatbreads) and bartenders pouring mezcal and tequila cocktails, then save weekends for cutting shapes on the DF.

Booked out for a month after opening, Reynold Poernomo’s KOI Dessert Bar (42-44 Kensington St) is serving a wicked dessert-heavy tasting menu – if you can get in. No luck? The ex-MasterChef contestant does takeaway strawberry and lychee mousse (pictured), potted panna cottas and more at the cake bar downstairs.