Randwick’s café strip
Tour de France fever lingers in the air at Sydney’s Randwick North, dubbed ‘the Paris side’ of the leafy locale. Here, two French passions go hand-in-hand – cycling and café culture.

With Spaniard Alberto Contador’s win at the French race still fresh, locals have been getting into the cycling spirit, vacuum-sealing themselves into garishly-coloured lycra and risking helmet hair to pedal around Centennial Parklands.

And, when they need a fuel stop, they’re wheeling into Randwick North’s Clovelly Road to visit one of its two foodie gems – Parc Café and Café Bari.

Parc Café, set in an old corner shop, is a good place to fill up on a generously-sized breakfast after an energetic morning cycle and  you can take a little memento from your visit home (from gourmet coffee to vine-ripened tomatoes).

While nearby Café Bari, next to bike shop Cheeky Monkey Multisport, won’t transport you to France exactly, it will take you meandering around Italy. Its focaccias are named after such cities as Bari, Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. It also has other touches of ‘Italianissimo’ on the menu, including pasta, pizza and arancini (fried risotto balls).

And, if you’re sans two wheels, you can always drop into Centennial Park Cycles to hire one so you can blend in with the locals.

Café Bari
26 Clovelly Road, Randwick 2031
T: (02) 9314 5832

Parc Café
30 Clovelly Road, Randwick 2031
T: (02) 9398 9222