Dessert darling of Sydney. The kids want to be you, the mums swoon for your macarons and the foodies queue every morning for your sweet treats.
I admire your daring approach to mixing flavours (coconut, green chilli and mango?) that manage to work despite misgivings but I feel that your celebrity has almost detracted from what you actually do.
Let me explain. I went to visit your shop in The Star. The set -up is reminiscent of a cartoon wonderland crossed with Ivy pool (the AstroTurf mainly). Trays of macarons line the cut-away kitchen, staff frantically piping the filling and delicately placing the two halves together. Large plastic bubbles float in the floor to ceiling windows containing delightful-looking treats. It is exciting to be sure. But sterile.
This vibe is not helped by the fact that you cannot enter the store without having a staff member invite you in, escort you round, and scribble down an order that I have no doubt some people feel pressured into placing. I only found this out when I was asked to leave the store and join the (non-existent, non-signposted) queue outside. So browsing is not allowed? Or the staff aren't capable of keeping enough of an eye out to notice when a browser becomes a buyer?
Well I left. Haven't been back in fact. I did have a squiz at the desert sushi train when it opened. I didn't see anything particularly fantastic going around. I believe the minimum price for any of the desert plates was $8.50. Quite steep when the plate size was definitely reminiscent of sushi-train sizes. My advice, don't try so hard.
http://www.star.com.au/dine/the-chefs/adriano-zumbo.html
