Adriano Zumbo Café Chocolat - Balmain, Sydney (2)

There is nothing quite like the sight of a foodbloggers meet, especially one of this magnitude! There are Stars in all forms, shapes and sizes and numerous paparazzi cameras everywhere, taking shot after shot after shot! I mean Hollywood move aside, we got juicier and tastier action happening right here in this small, cushy alcove of a cafe chocolat in Balmain. BUT that is because it is not just any ordinary cafe chocolat... this chocolate haven belonged to the suave and sexy Adriano Zumbo (The Bond of Pastries?).

Ok I must admit that the Stars actually came in gateaux, dessert or drink form but they all shone so brightly and vividly that each one demanded more attention then the next. The paparazzi, naturally, came in foodblogger form :D

To be more precise, this notorious Foodie Mob consisted of Reem from I Am Obsessed with Food (big thanks for organising), Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella, Suze from ChocolateSuze, Helen from Grab Your Fork, Belle from Ooh Look..., Yien from The Delectable Delight, Karen from Citrus and Candy, Amanda from The Cake + The Knife, Howard, Therese and Linda from Eat Show & Tell, Simon from Simon Food Favourites and Chris from The Way it Crumbles.

Thanks to all of you guys for making it such a fun gathering and sharing all the goodies. Great to put some faces to very entertaining blogs and to add more blogs to my collection :D

First stop the patisserie!
Most of decided to raid the patisserie first to scout out and ooh and ahh over the new summer collection of gateaux. This was actually my first time inside the patisserie so I was more excited than the others (if that is possible haha).

So many goodies to choose from on this side...

But there is more on this side too!
Charles, aka Charles du Jour, is extremely helpful and has a really cool Lupin shirt ^^! Haha I am quite the nerd :P He helps us make sure that we try at least one of each of the new collection by suggesting which ones have not been bought yet. I think he could tell who was in the Foodie Mob by our huge grins and us being armed with a camera and paychecks from the past few weeks.

Magic 'roons Box
I didn't end up getting any macaroons but some of my fellow foodbloggers have quite in depth and detailed descriptions of each of the flavours :) I must try some next time mmmm!

All the new and sexy gateaux!

Yayyyy ^^!
After procuring all our coveted goods we made our way down a few metres to the cafe chocolat proudly displaying the precious parcels or boxes.

Hello again old friend :)

We were fortunately reserved the long communal table in the alcove as it quickly filled up and was overflowing with delicious desserts.

So many goodies!
I didn't get to try enough of the desserts so that means I just need to go there more now haha. ChocolateSuze was very quick at snatching up her rice pudding eclair and greedily hiding it at the other end of the table haha jkjk ;) Simon's Have a Chat Kai! had beautifully fresh strawberries and lychees.

The Tarte aux fruits de la passion (passionfruit and cream) also looked very good but I didn't get to try. The Chocolate fondant is a flourless chocolate cake which gives off an umami flavour.

Sugar Lips
A brioche doughnut filled with lemon creme was very sugary indeed.

CT (Camel Toe)
I have heard so many wonderful stories about these rich, oozey wine filled truffles especially from Lorraine.

Other delightful truffles! (Sorry this photo is kinda washed out and don't have Light Room.. yet)

The Miss Marple Cheesecake is another one of the Miss Marple series. Although this cheesecake was very good I still perfer the Miss Marple Deconstructed sold at the cafe. Berry custard brioche, strawberry and peach danish and something else? lingering in the background.

Choose your weapon!
I went for the 2-prong :)

Thick Dark Hot Chocolate ($7)
This was the blackest, thickest looking dark hot chocolate according to Amanda but for me it was sweet nectar from the Gods! It was dark so maybe not so sweet but the balance of bitterness and the sweetness was brilliant. The thickness... can always be thicker until I need a spoon to eat it instead of just stirring it ;)

The communal table in the alcove was overflowing so the other desserts had to be brought here to 'The Studio'. I had planned on eating them all after taking the photos but then the others came over too hee hee jk ^^!

It's a Macaroon and NOT a Hamburger and Woohoo

It's a Macaroon and NOT a Hamburger ($13.50)
It was a very difficult choice between this and the Paris since Belle was describing all the intricate and delicate details of the Paris to me while I was deciding what to order. I finally gave in to this one beacuse I only had a smidget of a taste last time and I really craved it.

The giant macaroon sandwich with dulce le leche gelato, banana caramel rice pudding and chocolate sand did not disappoint. The mixture of flavours were genius and the textures all complimented each other.

Although this was a totally brilliant dessert, I must admit that I liked the Younger Years better most likely because I love the PB and chocolate combination a bit too much haha.

Paris - La Vie En Rose
Next time we shall meet and I shall hear you sweet and beautiful melodies resonate through my mouth and ears XD

Zumbo the Kid
I also really wanna try this one as it has PB and vegemite in it haha

Sunny Cloud and Past Jobs

Dr Apple, Craigie Bam! and On the Lounge with Zumbo

Framboise Millefeuille, UZC and Charles du jour
All the desserts are brilliant in design but I did not try them so I can't really tell you more :(

Wheely Wildy Wendy
I did, however, try this one as I ended up going back to the patisserie after I had to run off to buy this for my father (It was his B'day haha). This was to sort of make up for not spending the whole day with him :P

Wonderfully sweet chunks of peach in a tonka bean creme legere(?) sandwiched by almond dacquoise discs and rolled in almond crumble. This combination is indescribable and I can see why it is Lorraines' favourite.

The brilliant man himself cometh!
I had to run at about this point so I missed out on seeing Chris again but we shall meet again ^^! All such good fun to see/meet everyone and enjoy all the cakes yum! I obviously have a lot of more research to do hee hee.



One final shot of the cafe overflowing with foodbloggers!

On other Zumbo news:
Adriano Zumbo Café Chocolat - Balmain, Sydney


Adriano Zumbo Café Chocolat
308 Darling St
Balmain, Sydney

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie
296 Darling St
Balmain, Sydney

FFichiban