The Lab , Rozelle

Had a terrible case of jet lag upon returning from the work trip to Denmark last week, I didn't realized I have snoozed my alarm clock TWICE ! >__<

Needless to say it was already 10am when my friend message me to check where the hell am I.

So with much embarrassment I had to call work and just took a day off :P

Now that I have nothing to do the rest of the day, I dragged my friend to pay a visit to Adriano Zumbo's cafe that has just reopened at its new location in Rozelle.

I believe this location in Rozelle has always been the pastry kitchen that has been churning out amazing goodies to supply the patisserie and the cafe. It is now being renovated and expanded to fit in a cafe.

Cafe Menu

There wasn't much options for the savouries, a couple of sandwiches, a couple of pies and a few sausage rolls. The cafe has just opened for a few days so I'm hoping there will be more options on the menu in the near future.

Ordering at the counter ; Hmmmm Coookiiieeee......

Conical Water Flasks ; Wall covered with graffitis 

The walls are covered with black and white graffitis which is kinda cool, not to mention there is a huge cookie monster one ! Cookieee !!!

At the moment there isn't much seating space available in the cafe. About 10 stools on the bench tops surrounding the kitchen and a few more bench tops on the other side for those who doesn't mind standing on their feet to eat :)

I asked the girl at the counter and she said there will be lounges at the back and upstairs where the new kitchen for future baking classes will also be located. 

Not quite sure when the lounges and kitchen will be open, perhaps in a few weeks or so.

Latte & Cappucinno

The coffees were okay, it was perhaps a little too weak and watery for me.

Beef & Vegetable Pie

My friend had the beef & vegetable pie which tasted oddly like curry according to her. I thought perhaps they have given her the red chicken curry pie that was also on the menu, but it was definitely beef.

The pastry looked delicious, golden brown and flaky. It was also of a decent size, high and tall full of goodies in gravy :)

Roast Beef w/ Onion Jam, Brie, Sauteed Mushrooms Roll & Salad

Although the roll looked delicious, it is lacking something on the side don't you think ? It wasn't until I finished it off that I realized it should have come with a side of salad according to the menu. My salad has gone AWOL !

Beside that, the roll was indeed delicious ! The roll was toasted crunchy on the outside and inside was pillowy soft bread with a classic combination of fillings of roast beef and its buddies. There was plenty generous slices of brie as well...mmmmmmm.......

For $7.00 I think it is such a great value, the sandwich was quite big and did fill me up just right !

Peering into the open kitchen
(and cookie monster showing up everywhere LOL)

The new cafe is aptly named "The Lab" as you can see into the kitchen where all the magic happens if you sit around the benches.

While munching our lunches we saw trays and trays of macaron shells being filled. She still have a full racks of cooling shells on Silpat to fill @___@ As fun as it is making them, it must be quite repetitive if you have to fill hundreds of macarons !

See that machine behind her ? My guess is that is a macaron shell piping machine as I saw them cleaning the nozzles, could be wrong though :)

That would have saved them lots of time piping and try to get them all of the same size.

Cakes & Macarons Display

There wasn't much cakes on display, just a few tea cakes and tartlets, didn't see any of the individual creations like in the patisserie in Balmain. 

Hoping to see the individual cakes available here too in the cafe :)

Bread shelves ; Pretty in pink raspberry, rose & lychee tea cake ; Sticky date tea cake ; Pastries

There were of course a rack full of pastries and a shelves of freshly baked breads to purchase as well.

Brownies & Macarons

The brownies looked so sinful but good, shall remember to get that on the next visit. The macarons were placed in white cake boxes, which was a pity as they would have been much prettier displayed in clear boxed.

Mine ; Pandan & Coconut Macarons

Couldn't leave a Zumbo place without some macarons now can we ?

My friend got a pandan & coconut while I picked 4 of the interesting sounding ones.

From T to B : Oatmeal Ylang Ylang , Salted Peanut Caramel, Strawberry Balsamic and Blackened Vanilla.

Cross sections 

The oatmeal ylang ylang was interesting, slightly floral and you can taste the oats. Like eating oat porridge with flower hehehehee.

Salted peanut caramel tasted like peanut butter macaron, nothing too fancy. 

I like the blackened vanilla with rounded vanilla flavour and slight smokiness from the vanilla bean husks grounded into it.

Last but not least...the most interesting one out of the four, at first bite the balsamic vinegar taste hits you up front ! BANG !!!

Then you get to the strawberry gelee, then eat them together they are sooo gooood !!!  

If you like balsamic vinegar than you have to try this , the sweet version :)

Looking forward to visit the cafe again once the lounges are open and would loooove to attend one of the baking classes too ^_^ Can't wait !!