Sydney has always had a strong café culture, but focaccia sandwiches — proper ones, built on house-baked bread with thoughtful fillings — have been conspicuously absent from most neighbourhoods. That's changing. A new wave of panino-focused venues is raising the bar, and the results are worth talking about.
The focaccia sandwich is not a new idea. In Italy, the panino has been the everyday lunch of choice for generations — a simple, satisfying combination of quality bread, premium fillings, and nothing extra. What's different now is that Sydney is finally doing it seriously.
What makes a great focaccia sandwich?
The bread comes first. Focaccia done right has a light, open crumb, a slightly crispy crust, and a rich flavour from a slow fermentation. It's not the dense, oily slab that fills you up before you've tasted the filling — it's airy, flavourful, and structured enough to hold everything without falling apart.
From there, it's about the filling. The best panino are built on contrast: the creaminess of stracciatella against the salt of cured meat, the brightness of pickled vegetables against the richness of a good cheese. The combinations aren't arbitrary — they follow the same logic that's driven Italian food for centuries.
"A great panino doesn't need much. The bread should be the star, the filling should be the story."
The case for focaccia over sourdough
Sydney cafés have leaned heavily into sourdough for years, and for good reason — it's versatile, keeps well, and has a strong following. But for a sandwich, focaccia has real structural advantages. Its softer, more pliable interior holds fillings without the chew resistance of a dense sourdough crust. It absorbs dressings without going soggy. And its flavour — mild, slightly olive-oil rich — doesn't compete with the filling the way a strong sourdough can.
For cold cuts and fresh cheese especially, focaccia is the natural choice. The bread becomes a canvas rather than a statement, letting stracciatella, bresaola, or mortadella take centre stage.
Délisia's approach to focaccia
At Délisia — with locations in Forest Lodge and Zetland — focaccia is baked in-house daily. The bread comes in three variations: classic rock salt, sesame-sprinkled, and a house-baked gluten free version available every day. None of it is outsourced, and none of it is made the day before.
The panino built on this focaccia reflect the same philosophy: no shortcuts, no pre-made fillings, no supermarket ingredients. Stracciatella is sourced for its creaminess, cured meats for their provenance, and produce for its freshness. Combinations like fig with prosciutto and honey, or beef bresaola with pickled pear and pesto, are designed to work — not just to look good on a menu.
What's on the menu
- Stracciatella, prosciutto, fig, honey and rocket — the Figaro
- Beef bresaola, pickled pear, stracciatella and semi-dried pesto
- Pear, prosciutto, parmesan, honey and rocket — the Bellini
- Rock melon, stracciatella, prosciutto and honey — the Mélone
- House GF focaccia available daily for all panino
Why Sydney is finally getting it right
The rise of quality-focused sandwich venues in Sydney reflects a broader shift in how the city eats. Consumers are more ingredient-literate than they were a decade ago, more willing to pay for quality, and less impressed by volume alone. The era of the over-stuffed, sauce-heavy sandwich is giving way to something more considered.
Focaccia panino sit in a sweet spot: accessible enough to be an everyday lunch, interesting enough to be worth seeking out. Done well, they're one of the most satisfying things you can eat — simple, balanced, and made from things that are genuinely good.
If you haven't tried a properly made focaccia sandwich yet, Forest Lodge and Zetland are good places to start. View the full Délisia menu →