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)

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, Bondi Junction

So even though we'd just eaten half our body weight in ribs at Kelly's next door, it would have been impossible to head home without a pit stop at Max Brenner for dessert.

Feeling a little bloated, we did somewhat virtuously agree to "go for a little walk" before dessert. In reality this meant a short stroll down to a dead end, use of a lift to descend a few floors, then a slow meander around the Christmas decorations and a Santa sleigh before we headed back, only a few calories lighter but ready to pack in a few hundred more.


Peppermint tea infusion $3.50

The Max Brenner Chocolate Bar at Bondi Junction must surely be one of their largest in Sydney. There's plenty of seating both inside and out. In the back left corner is the chocolate gift shop in one corner, straight ahead is the service counter, groaning with glass domed platters filled with goodies and enormously tall jars filled with brightly coloured sweets.


Chocolate fondue for two $16.50
Pure melted milk and dark chocolate served with seasonal fruits,
marshmallows and banana bread

We order a selection of drinks and share the chocolate fondue for two. There are five adults and one toddler. Yes, we're still rather full from those ribs. The two-year old, however, claps eyes on the strawberries and grabs a skewer immediately.

The chocolate pots are a clever tiered construction of tea light, water bath and chocolate pod. It's somewhat dangerously hot for a toddler, but he soon cottons onto the concept of blowing on his dipped strawberry before attempting to eat it.

A bigger fan of dark chocolate, I find this one still very sweet and not really bitter enough for my preference. The milk chocolate is also very sweet. This means that whilst we polish off the bananas and strawberries with no problem, the marshmallows and banana bread are too much of a sugar overdose. The painful sweetness does remind me of my tooth-hurting chocolate pizza I'd had at their Paddington branch.


Peanut butter iced chockie $7.00

I've ordered the peanut butter iced chockie, lured by that all-American favourite of chocolate and peanut butter. It arrives in Max Brenner's Alice "drink me" cup, specially designed "to enhance the fantasy aspect of the chocolate drinking ceremony". Large orange letters implore you to "drink me", the top of the ceramic cup folded down into a tab, a hole already drilled to accommodate your special black plastic straw.

The first few mouthfuls are amazing, thick with the richness of peanut butter and ice cream. Halfway down the cup, the build-up of sugar starts to kick-in and induce some heady queasiness. Perhaps I'm getting old and losing my sweet tooth. Perhaps it's just the ribs that are talking!


Banana milk chocolate frappe $7.00

M has the dark chocolate mocha frappe ($7.00), a little disappointed by the absence of milk, more a short black with chocolate and blended ice. J has the banana milk chocolate frappe. T and S have pots of tea, arriving in funky clear plastic pots with Vienna coffee style glasses. There's no visible pouring spout on the pot, and a few spillages later, we have to call a waiter over to explain how to use it. With no word he simply takes the pot and places it directly on top of the glass, releasing a valve at the bottom of the pot. We'd never such a contraption, but perhaps we don't get out enough! Some unprompted explanation would be useful for new customers though?


Earl Grey tea infusion $3.50

Deliberately marketed and engineered as an emotive sensory experience, the Max Brenner website openly purports its desire to "create a new chocolate culture worldwide". As I sit at our table, I cannot help but notice the enormous quote in bold letters at the entrance, "I invite you to watch, smell, taste and feel my love story", signed by Max Brenner.

Call me a cynic, but I think I prefer my love stories with a less little syrup and a touch more grit.


Max Brenner Chocolate Bar - Bondi Junction
Bondi Junction Westfield Shopping Centre
Shop 6007, Level 6
500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9389 0088

Monday to Thursday 9.30am - 11.00pm
Friday 9.30am - midnight
Saturday 9.00am - midnight
Sunday 9.00am - 11.00pm

Max Brenner outlets are also open at Double Bay, Manly, Paddington, Parramatta, St Ives and Sydney CBD David Jones Elizabeth Street.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Max Brenner, Paddington
Lindt Cafe, Darling Harbour
Lindt Cafe, Martin Place

Kelly's Bar and Grill, Bondi Junction

Top 10, my friend

So yes we all know that Top 10 lists are, by their nature, extremely subjective and open for debate, but hey, I don't think I'm going to knock back getting mentioned in the Times Online list of Top ten food blogs from around the world.

I met up with Simon Majumdar in May 2007 when he visited Sydney as part of his gastronomic world tour of research for his upcoming book, Eat My Globe. We had Vietnamese for lunch - he was dying to try banh mi and I ended up giving him a tutorial in how to make rice paper rolls. I remember it was a really hot day and whilst I tried to give him a little impromptu tour of Chinatown and a geographic rundown of all that's tasty and delicious in Sydney, I was all too aware of my non-specific ramblings and shocking memory when it comes to dates and history.

So perhaps that makes me more impressed that even after meeting me, he still felt inspired to rank this here blog at #4 in a UK newspaper with an international audience. And whilst I don't agree that every food blog should be like this one (how boring would that be!), I'm humbled by his generous and complimentary sentiment.

He estimates there are 10,000 food blogs out there in the world. I think we need even more.

You can read the full article here.

Kelly's Bar and Grill, Bondi Junction

Pork ribs regular $27.95

You're either a ribs person, or you ain't. I know which one I am.

What greater pleasure than holding a rib bone with both hands and tearing shreds of succulent char-grilled meat off with your teeth. With a few grunts, sighs and surreptitious licking of lips, it's the closest anyone of us gets to impersonating Nigella.


Complimentary brioche

We headed to Kelly's at Bondi Junction, keen to test out another contender for Best Ribs in Sydney.

The open kitchen is the first thing that greets us. I spy a one-kilogram T-bone steak on the massive grill, and as we admire the display of carnivorous excess, the grill chef delights in pouring oil on the grill so a huge fireball erupts before our very eyes.

Up on level six of the new Bondi Westfield, the seating at Kelly's is semi-open plan, spilling onto the concourse, the outer tables enjoying glassed wall views back to the City. The tables are set with jars of mustard and clean unlabelled bottles of tomato and barbecue sauce. Soon after we order, we receive our complimentary brioche for the table. It's warm from the oven and deliciously soft and buttery. On another day, I could quite happily eat just this for my dinner.


Pork ribs small $19.95

When the ribs arrive, there's a collective gasp from the females at the table. The men just smile with glee. The regular portion consists of 1.5 racks of ribs. The small size is a modest single rack.

And the taste? I start with the short ribs on top and am disappointed to find them a little dry and overcooked. The rack beneath is a whole other story though - incredibly succulent with a lot more flavour. I'd heard from friends that consistency is often an issue here: sometimes the ribs are fantastic, other times they're only fair. The small size portion is a rack of short ribs so they're disappointingly dry. At this point I'm glad I over-ordered and got the regular - the larger ribs are so much better.


Pumpkin salad $18.95

All that fatty meat deserves some salad. We share the pumpkin salad, a lively mix of rocket and baby spinach leaves, chunks of pumpkin, Spanish onion, avocado and toasted pine nuts dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Overall? Hurricane's still wins for me. I found the marinade at Kelly's wasn't as smoky and the ribs weren't as fleshy or tender as those at Hurricane's. Kelly's is cheaper though: the regular size ribs cost $27.95 at Kelly's and $33 at Hurricane's.

And yes, I did finish all 1.5 racks of my regular ribs. I like ribs. Even if I can't find my own.



Kelly's Bar and Grill
Bondi Junction Westfield Shopping Centre
Shop 6008, Level 6
500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9389 8288

Lunch:
Monday-Friday 11.30pm-2.30pm
Saturday-Sunday 11.30am-3pm

Dinner:
Monday-Sunday 5.30pm onwards


Related GrabYourFork posts:
Ribs--Hurricane's Grill, Bondi Beach
Ribs--Outback Steakhouse, North Strathfield
Ribs--Tony Roma's, Sydney