Revisiting Adriano

CEO Extraordinaire KT is off to Buenos Aires, dancing the tango, so for the first time the CEO is absent from the DDT event!! We organised a revisit to Adriano's which changes menu every six months, so it's time to check out the new lot of goodies on offer.

While waiting for people to turn up, the inquisitive secretary dashed across the road where over a dozen people were waiting for their coffee, while more and more patrons turned up despite the queue. There must be something worthwhile about Bertoni's… And there was. I saw some pretty decent Italian pastries on the counter, and picked out a Sfogliatelle - puff pastry baked crispy on the outside, with ricotta and mascarpone citrus filling, which I had at A&P Sulfaro's at Haberfield but didn't know its name - and it was moreish!! According to Wikipedia, a variation of this is the pastizzi, of Malta, usually a savoury ricotta filling (which we had at Pastizzi's at Newtown). And pretty good coffee too, probably worth the 15 min wait!! Despite being incredibly busy, the barista still managed to have a pleasant chat with me, and when my coffee was ready, he waved madly to get my attention … can't imagine how he remembered who ordered what, but that service (and the coffee) was memorable.

Note: while I waited an Italian Mama came out with a plate of melt-in-your-mouth shortbreads to soothe the ever-patient caffeine addicts in need of that fix. Oh how I love the way it crumbled on my tongue!!!

Moving on - and picked up the following from AZ's : almond croissant (for Mademoiselle CEO), "sugar lip" - custard filled doughnut (lemon custard), brown sugar palmier, "upside-down cloud" (scoop of lemon custard atop a meringue case), while long time absentee Rita picked a chocolatey "Ed in the cradle" (mocha mousse with caramel and chocolate). And with these we headed to Adriano's Cafe Chocolat for a sit-down sweet brunch.

Note: While picking and choosing my orders the shop keepers handed me a cracked vanilla macaron "we can't sell anyway" - freebie #2 for today!!!

Poring through the menu thinking I won't need anything else, and "Paris" caught my eyes - ah c'est La Vin en Rose… it's a gorgeous dessert with a rose macaron, strawberry sorbet, lychee, vanilla creme patissier, and a fruit smoothie with what seems like yogurt and chunks of raspberry… being pink all over, it was of course made for me… I could not resist. Meanwhile Rita went for another chocolatey offer of Hamburger - chocolate macaron shells with chocolate ice cream and banana chunks, looking like a chocolate hamburger.

Loic having had to leave early with his friend (who is flying out at 4pm that afternoon) had a modest sweet consumption of a few chocolates and a smoothie.  These were the less adventurous chocolates, nothing like the 'cigar' (made to look like a Cuban cigar, actually contains tobacco leaves) or the salt and vinegar (which was also a flavour amongst Adriano's macarons!!).

Verdict?

I love my pink dessert. Fragrant rose macaron, refreshing sorbet, smooth vanilla custard, chunky tangy fruit smoothie I had to suck really hard to get to. The banana-chocolate ice cream "pate" was super. No fault with the chocolate macaron. "Ed in the cradle" was rich, smooth, intense. The chocolate was so fine, it melted under the sun!! "Upside down cloud" was tangy (the fantastic blob of lemon custard), sweet and crunchy on the outside, and chewy in the centre of the meringue. I was actually a little disappointed - think it could have been more than just lemon custard and meringue, though I couldn't figure out if the meringue was supposed to have a filling or if the chewy almost-nougatine textured centre was the filling?

Sugarlip has the same lemony tangy custard as the Upside down cloud - wonderful combo with the sweet dough. Almond croissant: Fluffy crispy (not the kind KT prefers, but I like it) with a very smooth paste at the bottom of the pastry. Brown sugar palmier - not as light as one from Paddington (La Gerbe d'Or) but I like the caramel'y flavour of brown sugar.

Chocolates: Loic very generously shared his chocolate order with us and I had one with the rose on top (my theme for the day??) and it had a gorgeously smooth ganache filling.

This being a one-stop DDT ended early and again, my stomach was smaller than my ambition - had a big take home pack of left overs at about 1pm… Which meant, mum and dad technically joined us on the dessert tour by sampling the goods on the day of the DDT…?

KT: I'm so proud of you!!!! Oh, and I just electrocuted myself by drooling all over the laptop, fantasising about Adriano - I mean, his desserts...