October 31st, 2015 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Latest | 1 Comment »
At the newly opened Petal Met Sugar in Woolloomooloo, the blooms and sweets are so good-looking that you’re surprised the furniture doesn’t get an inferiority complex. Here, the prettiness levels are dialed up to 11 – everything seems like it’s amplified to impress your eye. Each floral feature or pastry detail feels like it’s been […]
July 28th, 2015 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Latest | 4 Comments »
There are no boring diagrams or charts at Textbook Boulangerie-Patisserie in Alexandria – just sweets so good looking that they deserve their own catwalk. There’s a Jaffa Cake ($8.50) that feels like a high-gloss, silken Chanel version of eating the choc-orange candy found in supermarket confectionery aisles – thanks to the satiny mandarin cremeux, airy milk-choc mousse, chocolate crunch and pain de gênes. […]
March 6th, 2013 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants | 3 Comments »
Penny Fours in Leichhardt – it’s a great ally for anyone seeking a sugar fix in an area known for its forkfuls of pasta and oven-hot pizza slices. Recently opened by Penelope Ransley (whose flour-dusted CV includes Tetsuya’s, Sepia, Iggy’s Bread), this patisserie has a small – but excellent – selection for your sweet tooth. The […]
December 12th, 2011 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
The Gelato Messina Lab is finally open. There are no test results or case-cracking white coats on show, just low-temperature patisserie treats. There’s an ice-cream burger, a “villainous” dessert called Mini Me (it deceptively harbours Dr Evil Chocolate, dulce de leche jam and peanut butter biscuit on top of a “grassy” base of pop rocks) […]
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 […]
February 12th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
So, Will asked me to keep the weekend before my birthday free and to pack an overnight bag. A weather report was my only clue as to where we were going – “Sunny with a chance of shower”. On the same day we left Sydney, there’d be news reports of flash-floods later that evening. We […]
September 28th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
I used to think marshmallows were the most lifeless sweets around – it often felt like they were made by insulation experts, and not confectioners setting sugar and gelatine into little squares of magic (and dental havoc). Then I had artisan marshmallows – and realised it’s not even in the same orbit as the tragic […]
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 […]
July 12th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I know Adriano Zumbo in Balmain is so heavily blogged about but I couldn’t pass up the chance to use these eye-stunning pictures. A few weeks ago, Will rang me to ask which food items he should shoot for his last photo lighting class. Without a beat, I knew where he had to go. Adriano […]
June 21st, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
I know I blogged about Black Star Pastry last year but I was recently re-reminded of how great it is. The macro-sized patisserie has sort of provided the menu to my week – or a kind of diary spelt in sugar, ganache, elderflower and rosewater. It started last Saturday with a Zucchini and Pumpkin Muffin […]