February 23rd, 2015 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Podcasts | Leave A Comment »
A princess cake and a corporate job in banking seem like unlikely ingredients for a macaron company, but they each played a part in kickstarting MakMak Macarons. Carlos Heng and Dan Pigott began their venture in DIY style, with Carlos overtaking Dan’s kitchen and selling his sweets in an underground fashion. Eventually MakMak went legit, […]
December 28th, 2012 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
You can now visit the beach without needing a towel, suncream and battle plans for finding an unclaimed spot by the shoreline. MakMak Macarons’ Pop-up Shop in Newtown evokes the surf with a store adorned with shells, floaties, beach balls (some mid-bounce), the occasional (fake) seagull and more than 100 kilograms of sand. And, to […]
January 24th, 2012 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Gold stars to MakMak for coming up with an excellent way to exercise your sweet tooth on Australia Day: lamington macarons. They come in these very gratifying flavours: Milo (yes!), Cream and Jam and Cream (the ones with the bonus red macarons on the side). They’re a limited-edition range, sadly, so you can either hurry […]
August 15th, 2011 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
You could accuse 2011 of being a repeat offender when it comes to good new places to dine. Surry Hills is often the scene of this particular crime, given the location of the recently opened The Carrington and its likeable pintxos bar meets old-school pub approach; the truly excellent Orto Trading Co. (still titleholder of […]
December 15th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Sometimes the surprise factor gets ironed out of Christmas, with so many things done on repeat mode from the year before (and the year before that). So a jolt of the new is a welcome schedule change. Thankfully, MakMak refreshes its line-up each season and has just introduced Ginger Caramel, Pavlova, Gianduja and the holiday-resonant […]
July 31st, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »
Have you got macaron fatigue yet? Nevermind, as MakMak is here to respark your interest. While the business is off to a small-scale start (making cameos in some inner-city cafes, offering limited online orders), its current range is assured and impressive – these flavours are no warm-up act. My favourite is the Raisin Toast macaron, […]
March 2nd, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »
It sounds like macaron diehards are wishing they could undo the out-of-control popularity of their favourite treat – if this article in today’s Wall Street Journal is anything to go by, anyway. There’s always something compelling about a foodfight – and this one especially, when fans are so fired up about seeing an artisan pastry […]
November 6th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
It’s Macaron Day at Adriano Zumbo in Balmain. Here’s a quick lunchtime post. I arrived at the patisserie at 8.30am and the line was ridiculous and (unencouragingly) not moving at all. But, 40 minutes later (a lot of it spent snooping on other people’s print-outs of the 45ish flavours on offer), I ended up with […]
October 13th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Here’s a little blog candy for you. This was one of the Wasabi Macarons that were given out at the Adriano Zumbo session at Sydney International Food Festival, where the pastry chef blew the secret on Margaret Fulton’s birthday cake (it’s going to be several shades of vanilla) and delivered his ever-sweet take on Japanese […]
August 17th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
I’ve never really spent much time at Chifley Plaza. See, on my last visit, I had to pick up an $800 ballpoint pen from Tiffany to use in a magazine shoot. This was many moons ago, when I was an editorial assistant and my minimum-wage-earning self was unable to compute how a simple pen could […]