Divine Dessert Tour Launch

Bills Woollahra and Laurent Patisserie, Bondi Junction

On a rainy gloomy day in December, 2007, a bunch of foodies gathered up for a feast, and the conversation seemed to revolve around food, food and more food. Then an idea was conceived - As Sydney has such diverse cultures and cuisines, why not make the most of it by indulging ourselves at establishments renowned for their culinary masterpieces! And who says you must do it like critiques do - we must enjoy the event, preferably with loved ones, and make it a fun, relaxing day out while we're at it!

So there it was, the idea of a "food tour" started to take shape. "What theme?"

For some strange reason - maybe it has something to do with the fact that more girls than boys were involved - the theme was DESSERTS. And there it was, the Divine Dessert Tour was born.

The birth of an idea followed by approximately 2 weeks of madly searching the web for reviews, and gathering suggestions from friends and family members, compiling a list of intended targets, and then another 2 weeks to finalise the launch date, time and location. Then the die-hards came along, cameras and tastebuds at the ready, for a day of decadent delights.

Bills Woollahra ought to feel proud to be the Divine Dessert Tour launch pad. The courtyard setting gave it a fantastic casual and cosy feel, though no bookings meant Divine Dessert Devotees have had to put their names down and come back for a table. It didn't take us long to pick our orders, as we had all checked out the menu from their website. Ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter, banana and maple syrup, very simple but hearty and satisfying for a Sunday brunch. It came, it went, and it pleased the tastebuds. Hot fluffy golden hotcakes, drenched (ok not THAT drenched) with maple syrup mixed with melted honeycomb butter - it was rich in flavour but surprisingly not rich and heavy like ordinary pancakes. One of the DDDs asked for an alternative to bananas and was presented with strawberries piled under her hotcakes. To deviate from the theme of dessert, another DDD ordered corn fritters, which could probably pass as a sweet item because the corn kernels were so juicy sweet!! Must be fresh off the cob. The gluttonous DDDs also asked for apple cherry and almond bread, and a coconut bread, both delicious and surprisingly light! They were almost like "bready" muesli bars, not moist and heavy like cafe fruit loaves. I was personally very pleased with them, though I think my greediness meant I had to force feed my fellow DDDs so not one crumb was wasted.

So I have committed two deadly sins at just one sitting.

One thing I noticed about Bills Woollahra is that it's quite noisy, maybe because it's a casual cafe/bistro rather than a fine dining restaurant. I never understand why the wait staff would throw the clean cutlery one by one, rather than gently placing the cutlery a bunch at a time, into the cutlery basket. It really would not take more than 2 seconds to place it rather than throw it into the basket, to avoid the harsh metallic banging. And the interior was a little echoey so the chatter combined with the cutlery banging bothered me a bit. Otherwise I had no complaints about what was presented in front of me!!

The DDDs tossed up between walking and driving to our next destination - Bondi Junction Westfield - as walking off the calories sounded like a good idea, though laziness prevailed. Our next stop was Laurent Patisserie, a French patisserie mainly found in Melbourne and only 2 in Sydney (Boulangerie at Manly where bread is REALLY baked there). I really miss the Woolloomoolloo Wharf location as that provided the authentic French atmosphere - outdoor seatings designed for people watching, whilst chewing on a fresh croissant or a baguette... but no, Laurent at BJ was outside Coles, messy, busy, chaotic. Forget the French atmosphere and just focus on the desserts, distributed by a central kitchen. They still impressed - Most of us had trouble picking one dessert out of the dozen on display, and each mouthful generated a contented sigh or satisfied appreciation - "mmm".

The Bahia - delicious layers of chocolate mousse and a tangy jelly centre

My favourite is still the Bahia, but Bora Bora came very close to the favourites list (I think). The Saint Amour was very berry, though the sponge covering the souffle was a bit dry, possibly stale as it's been sitting there for a whole day. The coffee was unfortunately below average for me - my long black came a little watery with thin crema. Totally not what I had at Toorak (Vic) or Woolloomoolloo.

Saint Amour

Bora Bora (top and bottom right) - delicious passionfruit chocolate mousse

Verdict? I will probably buy take away, buy an Illy or Lavazza coffee, and enjoy it at a better location. The cakes were lovely, but might try buying it earlier in the day for a fresher experience.

No the day did not end there. For the warm down we strolled over to the event coordinator's place for a piece of her very own cherry tart. Apart from the fact it was served on a Corning plate, giving away its "home-baked" origins, it was professional and perfect, could easily have passed as a take away from quality patisserie like Laurent. Thus the day ended with more talk about food, and much anticipation (and gym work out in preparation) for the next tour (Sunday, 24 February 2008 - stay tuned)!

Acknowledgment
Muchas gracias to the event coordinator KT for doing the hard part of the organising - ie doing the research, producing a list of target eateries, and setting a date for the launch, and also thanks to fellow DDDs for making this event so fun and memorable!

Cinned