Zumbo to open Melbourne store

Work has begun on Adriano Zumbo’s Melbourne incursion. The Sydney-based celebrity pastry chef hopes to open in South Yarra’s Claremont Street by late August, with Mama Baba and Two Birds One Stone for neighbours.

Daniel Texter will head up the Melbourne kitchen. Born in Germany, Texter was head pastry chef at Noma in Copenhagen and spent two years at Les Amis, the luxe French restaurant in Singapore, before returning to Melbourne, where he had previously worked at Vue de Monde.

Zumbo and Texter are already devising recipes for their Melbourne menu.

“We’re expecting to get hit pretty hard when we open [in Melbourne] so we’re trying to get as well prepared as we can,” says Zumbo.

“We’re already getting office workers from across the road banging on the window asking when we’re opening.”

Texter jokes that he may draw on his German heritage to trial a schnitzel or sauerkraut macaron for Zumbo’s annual Zumbaron Day, when the stores feature around 60 kinds of macaron, often in experimental flavours such as duck pancake or salt and vinegar.

Zumbo’s Melbourne bakery will be at 12-14 Claremont Street, South Yarra.

-Roslyn Grundy