All good blogging intentions got slightly derailed when I discovered I’d won the open call-out for Three Minute Sydney.

So, ack, sorry, more blog delays (even the trains are more reliable than me right now!). I’ve been busy re-reading what I’m going to say and trying to slim down my chances of looking like a mega fool at the Museum of Contemporary Art tomorrow. If you’re curious, the event is free, and while I’m lower down the talent food chain, there are some great people on the bill (check out the program for more details).

I know, this IS meant to be a ‘food blog’, not a ‘me blog’ – although there are a few Sydney food mentions in my Three Minute gasbag (Petersham’s Portugese tarts get a tidy name check, for instance). But really, that’s slim pickings for a post. So as part-sweetener (literally), I’m distracting you with some eye candy from the always incredible Adriano Zumbo in Balmain.

Oh and to do a classic (and lazy) clip-show schtick, I’m recycling an old (but always applicable) review of it. You can’t get any more “here’s one I prepared earlier” than that.

I think there’s a rule somewhere (probably spelt out in sugar and cream and praline) that you can’t run a Sydney food blog without covering Adriano Zumbo, the much-mentioned patisserie in Balmain. One of the on-show creations is even named after a well-loved food blogger.

Everything on display at Adriano Zumbo looks like a haute couture piece – embroidered with lavish touches that look more at home in a luxury goods store than a box ready to be assaulted with a spoon.

The one problem I find with Adriano Zumbo is that you need to forensically gaze over each millimetre of the display case to even manage a longlist of what you want. It’s such a popular, narrow space that such investigative work is impossible (and nuisance-causing), so instead you just have to join the line and gamble that you’ve figured it out by the time you’re rushed to the front.

To make the indecision worse, there’s a twin store dedicated to chocolate very close by.

You’ll just have to undergo your research one long, lingering artisan-pastry-bite at a time.

Adriano Zumbo, 296 Darling St, Balmain, Sydney, NSW (02) 9810 7318, www.adrianozumbo.com