Dessert at Hartsyard means a spectacular sugar hit that not only knocks out your tastebuds, but sends your Instagram feed into a like-ratcheting frenzy. This is thanks to Andrew Bowden (aka @andybowdy) and his epic creations. But after July 19, this pastry chef is going solo, so make sure you book in for one last Peanut Butter and Banana Sundae (which Andy estimates he’s sold over 10,000 of in his three years at the restaurant), his ever-rotating Pies of the Week (which have notched up 3000+ orders during his Hartsyard tenure) and soft serves (which once included a Sunday roast flavour with pork crackling, malted milk, French fries and apple sauce – I’m not sure how many takeaway versions of that he sold, but 826 people have been happy just to turn up to the restaurant to buy one of his ever-changing cone-packed extravaganzas; and more than 5000 not-so-vanilla ice-creams of his have hit Hartsyard tables, including Tiramisu, Wasabi and Donut flavours).

Don’t worry, though – after Andy turns in his chef’s whites at Hartsyard, you’ll still be able to get your fix of his desserts. He’ll continue making bespoke cakes (like that mega raspberry mousse and passionfruit curd creation I ordered for a past birthday – at the time, I remember writing that the end result was so good-looking, it probably deserved star management and its own agent). While you may not be able to pay for such a cake with 18 cheeseburgers (as the guys from Mary’s did), Andy’s next-level desserts are definitely worth their pricetag.

Over the coming months, the pastry chef will be doing pop-ups at Artificer Coffee in Surry Hills, and he is part of the food line-up for Underbelly Arts Festival in August that I’m “curating” (credit really goes to Eliza Sarlos and the Underbelly crew for all the hard work, sweat and schedule-wrangling on that one; my lazybones contribution was just giving them a wish list of people I thought would be amazing for the event).

I have a feeling Andy won’t be retiring the soft-serve machine quite yet either, so keep an eye on his Instagram for the latest news.

And you can still order his cakes via his new website: Andy Bowdy Pastry. You don’t even need a birthday as an excuse.