AND FOR COFFEE THAT SATISFIES AN AUSTRALIAN…

We’re all familiar with the flat white, piccolo and macchiato in Australia but there’s a completely different coffee language to learn in the United States, from the Americano (espresso diluted with hot water) to the cortado (“cut” with milk, like a mini flat white) and the San Francisco-born Gibraltar (similar to a cortado but served in a glass). So, where to find a good brew in San Francisco? Thanks to Andrew Hardjasudarma at Room 10 café in Sydney’s Potts Point, I had a list to work through. Here are my top picks.

◖ Sightglass Coffee (sightglasscoffee.com) is a cool café and roastery in the SoMa district. The espresso machine set-up is pretty impressive and the mezzanine level offers an awesome view of the open bar and roaster. The coffee was great and the cinnamon apple turnover wasn’t bad, either.

◖ Saint Frank (saintfrankcoffee.com) at Russian Hill is a sleek, light-filled café with a fun vibe, despite all the serious young coffee drinkers sipping while surfing the net. My coffee was caramel-like with a delicious, long flavour. It was right up there with Australian brews and my favourite of the trip.

◖ Tartine Bakery & Cafe (tartinebakery.com) does an okay coffee but the real reason to visit is to watch the staff make and dress the tasty cakes while you queue to order. The croissants are also worthy of a mention and, if you rock up after 11.30am, hot sandwiches are on offer. The amazing bread is baked on site.