My $84 passionfruit tart

My first food post! I'm dedicating this to Adriano Zumbo, my new favourite patissier. But you're probably wondering why a tart would cost $84? Let's say thank you to Balmain Council for my $79 parking fine. So it may be a little unfair to lump it with the pastry. But let me tell you - the exquisite taste of the tart combined with the joy of discovering this great shop has made every penny worth it!

I chanced upon this narrow Balmain establishment yesterday as I walked Tino up Darling Street. I hesitated about going in at first as it meant tying Tino up to a pole . But am I glad I did!
After much picking and choosing, I walked out with a passionfruit tart ($5, not pictured, as I didn't have my camera with me when I gobbled it up) six mini macaroons ($6.60, at $70/kg), two of each of the mandarin, rose, and passionfruit yoghurt. Unknowingly, I had spoken to the patissier himself who commented about the flavours he'll have next week, including a TRUFFLE one, which I am so going back for. The reason I didn't know it was him was because he was hanging around with a friend on the customer side of the counter, so I had initially assumed they were customers. When I asked the guy behind the counter about the unlabeled yellow macaroon, he informed me it was yoghurt-flavoured but Adriano corrected him: passionfruit yoghurt. It wasn't til I exited the store that I noticed a SMH clipping with his picture on it.

Anyway, onto assessment. I sampled three macaroons pretty quickly in my car partly to dilute the stress of finding the orange envelope slipped under the windscreen-wipers.

I tried the rose one first, as it was the one that appealed to me most in the shop. It didn't disappoint. Unmistakable rose flavour, crunchy exterior and soft, delectable filling. What a macaroon should be. Next most appealing was the mandarin-flavour. Texture-wise good, but the taste was a tad overwhelming for me. I had to restrain myself after the passionfruit (another gorgeous flavour) as I wanted to leave the other three to photograph when I got home.

Now the $84 passionfruit tart. Shared this with a friend over a cuppa. The watermelon pink jelly that protected the filling reminded me of, well watermelon, especially with the two passionfruit seeds laid artfully across the top. The zingy filling oozed out majestically as I unmajestically tried to scoop and share. Again, a delightful passionfruit taste. Crust was standard but did not distract from the main event, the filling. A masterpiece on all accounts.

Yes, worth every dollar.