Adriano Zumbo, Balmain

I think I'm in love.

I've been a late arrival to the Adriano Zumbo online party, he the cherished darling of swooning sweet-toothed food bloggers all over Sydney. It doesn't take long for me to fall head over heels myself.

This small but amazing patissierie is housed in a narrow shop on Darling Street, a few cellophaned gingerbread houses greeting you at the entrance. Barely wide enough to fit two customers, the corridor down the left is long but rewarding, a journey that takes you past savoury quiches and pastries, sourdough breads on top and behind the counter, sweet loaves, flaky pastries, drawers of pristine multicoloured macarons and then finally, the illuminated showcase of exquisite pastries for which he is so renowned.


Christmas gingerbread house


Quiche Nancy $5.20
Corn, roast tomato and pesto


Fruit danishes $4.50


Banana bread $12.00; Orange almond cake $15.00 and pear cake


Berry brioche


Finger bun (left) and mango & jasmine (right) macarons $1.80 each

The macarons are cause enough for me to pause and ponder. There are twelve flavours currently in production although only half of them are available today. They range from the fruitiness of pink grapefruit, pineapple & ginger, forest berry and green apple, to the more unusual blue cheese, yoghurt & chilli, liquorice and coconut pandan. Dessert-inspired flavours bring the candy pink coconut encrusted "finger bun", a deep brown "sticky date pudding" and the almond flaked "feullitine".


Pink grapefruit and liquorice macarons $1.80 each



And then the climatic showcase. You can almost hear the angels sing. Lined up with precision along pristine white catwalks, a utopia of desserts calls you near. The white surrounds and backlighting give a heavenly halo effect to these creatures of perfection. It also creates a handy whitebox for the camera-clicking foodblogger.


Craigie bam! $7.50
Chocolate dacquoise, chocolate sabayon with salted caramel debris,
chocolate caramel creameaux an caramel mousse (gluten-free)

Adriano Zumbo's website will tell you he trained at the world-famous pastry school Ecole Lentore in Paris. You can tell. It's clear at first glance that these are no ordinary desserts. Each gateaux is considered and deliberate, creative interplays of flavour and texture melded into exquisite edible artforms that are almost a shame to eat. The whimsical names of many of his desserts only add to the appeal. Not only is he uber talented, he's also down-to-earth with a good sense of humour. *swoon*


Rice pudding eclair $5.20
Pate a choux, rice pudding creme patisserie
with cinnamon dusted fondant

It's week two of Zumbo's newly unveiled summer collection, launched on Saturday 22 November and available until 22 May next year. This latest collection has been named "Please sir can I have some more!". A new range of desserts is revealed every six months, giving even greater incentive to relish each gateaux as often as possible during their limited season.


Miss Marple cheesecake $7.50
Orange cheesecake with orange strawberry compote,
cream cheese creme legere with a crepe and maple glaze

The golden surface on the top of each cheesecake is a super-thin layer of crepe.


Where's the f*%#@^ cheese? $7.60
Blue cheese mousse, fig, raisin and pear creameaux,
pear and vanilla bavaroise, walnut biscuit


Have a chat Kai! $7.80
Coconut dacquoise, lychee jelly, coconut mousse,
coconut crunch, fresh strawberries and lychees (gluten-free)


On the lounge with Zumbo $7.50
Mango financier, raspberry and liquorice jelly,
fresh mango slices, liquorice mousse, mango caramel glaage


Zumbo the kid $7.50
Vegemite bavaroise, peanut butter creme legere, raspberry jelly,
chocolate peanut glacage, peanut feullitine, flourless chocolate biscuit


Cassius $7.80
Chocolate biscuit macaron, blackcurrant chocolate cremeaux,
chocolate pieces with sea salt, dark chocolate Chantilly (gluten-free)


Charles du Jour $7.60
Tart pate sucree, vanilla ganache, vanilla creme chantilly,
vanilla water bursts and vanilla glacage


Dr Apple $7.70
Pistachio dacquoise, apple cider jelly, vanilla creme chantilly,
Calvados cooked apples, green apple mousse (gluten-free)

So Zumbo has a mass of foodblogging groupies. It's a perfect venue for the latest foodbloggers meet-up.

We congregate at the recently opened Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat a few doors up from the patissiere.


Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat

Tucked inside the courtyard of Balmain Mall, the Cafe offers savoury and breakfasts, handmade chocolates, hot chocolates and drinks, a la carte desserts, and most important, customer seating.


The cushioned alcove

We've reserved the cushioned alcove, the only indoor area which comprises a wooden u-shaped padded bench, red, black and white cushions, and a spectacular red chandelier overhead.


Earl grey and milk chocolate macarons $2.00 each


Lavendar truffles $9.50/100 grams


Gianduja $9.50/100 grams


Chocolate ADZ $9.50 / 100 grams

The staff have been forewarned of our arrival and have generously agreed to let us bring our patissiere desserts to the cafe. Cake boxes are whisked away by friendly staff and the desserts inside are transferred to plates and returned, as we set up the mother of all foodblogging communal taste testings.


Dark hot chocolate $6.00

My dark hot chocolate is the sweet calm before the sugar storm. Rich and foamy, it's a perfect balance of bitter dark cocoa blended with frothy milk. I suspect it's thickened slightly with cornflour, a comforting drink that's not too sweet or heavy.


Where's the f*%#@^ cheese? $7.60
Blue cheese mousse, fig, raisin and pear creameaux,
pear and vanilla bavaroise, walnut biscuit

I've contributed two desserts. Where's the f*%#@^ cheese? is a domed slice of mild blue cheese mousse studded with pieces of fig, pear and raisin atop a layer of pear and vanilla bavaroise and a base of crisp pastry. Shards of golden hued walnut biscuit on the outside add crunch. The blue cheese is mild, more like a creamy Castello, that marries well with the sweetness of fruit and slight bitterness of walnut. It's the perfect dessert for the non-sweet tooth, or, as in my case, the sweet tooth who likes to have a second course of dessert.


Charles du Jour $7.60
Tart pate sucree, vanilla ganache, vanilla creme chantilly,
vanilla water bursts and vanilla glacage

"You must try the Charles du Jour," I was implored, as I'd stared longingly at the array of gateaux earlier on in the morning. "It's one of the best desserts in this collection, if not ever!" he'd continued. The fact his name is Charles was no bias of course.

So I'd found myself purchasing the dessert named after the counterboy. The four-pronged assault of vanilla on vanilla hits your palate without relent, leaving some of the tastetasters in rhapsodies of joy. The two enrobed spheres on top are balls of dark chocolate filled with vanilla water. They explode between your teeth, a refreshing spray of vanilla-infused liquid washing its way coolly down your throat.


Left: Cassius $7.80
Chocolate biscuit macaron, blackcurrant chocolate cremeaux,
chocolate pieces with sea salt, dark chocolate Chantilly (gluten-free)

Right: Tarte aux fruits de la passion $5.50
Pate sable, passionfruit creme


Miss Marple cheesecake $7.50
Orange cheesecake with orange strwaberry compote,
cream cheese creme legere with a crepe and maple glaze


Food bloggers in action


The food photography studio

The desserts number so many we end up with an overflow area we christen The Studio. The timber benchtop is the perfect backdrop for the non-stop exquisite sugar parade.


PARIS - La Vie en Rose $13.50 (from the Cafe menu)
Rose creme brulee, raspberry sorbet balls, fresh lychees,
petit rose macarons and coconut strawberry tapioca shake


Cross-section of Zumbo the kid $7.50
Vegemite bavaroise, peanut butter creme legere, raspberry jelly,
chocolate peanut glacage, peanut feullitine, flourless chocolate biscuit


Wheely Wildly Wendy $7.60
Fresh roasted peach in a tonka bean creme legere,
sandwiched between two almond dacquoise disks and
rolled in almond crumble


UZC $7.80
Biscuit macaron, sweet corn jelly, saffron bavaroise, vanilla brulee


Past jobs $7.50
Kaffir lime and ginger pannacotta, black sticky rice pudding,
exotic fruit jelly and palm sugar mascarpone


Sunny cloud $7.00
Pate sable, lime jelly, yoghurt creme fraiche,
lime curd and Italian meringue


The Younger Years $13.50 (from the Cafe menu)
Chocolate fondant with raspberry coulis injection
and peanut butter gelato

The Younger Years is probably the dessert with the most amount of hands-on fun. A vial of blood red raspberry coulis is provided for personal injection into a chocolate fondant. Presented in a silver kidney pan alongside a scoop of peanut butter gelato, it's cute, funny and tasty too.

Adriano Zumbo brings a little bit of magic, wonder and childlike whimsy into the world.

Please sir can I have some more!


Top to bottom: Blue cheese; earl grey and chocolate;
pink grapefruit and pineapple & ginger macarons




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Adriano Zumbo Patissier
296 Darling Street, Balmain, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9810 7318

Monday to Saturday 8am-6pm
Sunday 8am-4pm

The summer collection, "Please sir can I have some more!",
is available from now until Friday 22 May 2009.


Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat
Shop 5, 308 Darling St, Balmain, Sydney
(inside Balmain Mall)
Tel: +61 (02) 9555 1199
Open 7 days 7am-6pm

This has been included as an Intrepid Eat on Grab Your Fork's Top 10 Sydney Eats for Tourists. Read the entire list here.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Adriano Zumbo Macaron Day photos (Oct09)
Adriano Zumbo Macaron Day flavour list (Oct09)
Adriano Zumbo Patissier, Balmain ( May09) , (Jan09) and (Nov08)
Adriano Zumbo Cafe Chocolat, Balmain (Nov08)