One of the unexpected ‘up’ sides to the last few days was that I got to take Mr SSG to an area Sydney I know well from work but we never really get around to visiting now that I no longer work there.

Luxe Bakery is in the heart of Newtown. To me, Newtown is an invigorating mix of students, eccentric and flamboyant locals, professionals, youth in general and a broad cross section of people who need hospitals. In other words, it’s a place where all the subcultures of Sydney collide with harmonious results.

When I was working in the area, Luxe was my second most favourite cafe on Missenden Road.  McCafe won because it was 50m from the front door of work.  That’s how much of a coffee conisseur I am.  Third was Max Brenner because that was further than either Luxe or McCafe.

The pumpkin on our communal window table.

What I loved most about Luxe were:

• the lovely staff who always smiled and had a chilled out salutation for everyone who walked in, regular or not
• the fantastic bread and pastries, all made on site
• the coffee
• the decor
• the people watching.

It’s been over a year since I was last at Luxe and thankfully, not one of these has changed.

There was superior people watching from outside our window.  Across the road is another Newtown institution, Campo’s Coffee.  You’re either a lover or not when it comes to Campo’s coffee beans.  The tiny shop is always jam packed and there’s always a line onto the street on weekend mornings.

Luxe does breakfasts and lunches.  Don’t ask me why I snapped the lunch menu when were there for breakfast.  You can either dine in or takeaway.  It’s all very relaxed but efficient.

The baristas and staff that always make me smile no matter how bad a day I’ve been having.

Yes, the skinny cap was mine.

Luxe is housed in a refurbished old shop house and the decor is a combination of shabby chic and utilitarian.  The counter is filled with all sorts of sweet baked goods (you must try their fig and chocolate tart) as well as sandwich and savoury pastry options.  Prices are very reasonable considering the standard of the baked items.  Breakfast was a total of $21 for two.

Here’s a run down of what we had.

A blueberry custard danish.  The custard wasn’t too sweet or runny.

A super flaky croissant.

Fig and raisin toast.

It looks like I’m going to be in the Newtown area fairly often in the next little while.  It’s reassuring to have found an old friend in the area to visit when coffee and high grade butter laden carbs are needed.