Not Quite NigellaThe cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @

Zumbo’s Cake Walk & Shop At The Star & Win A Signed Copy Of Zumbo, The Cookbook!

Not Quite Nigella — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:00:59 +0000

I am running late and when I get frantic my decidedly dodgy sense of direction tends to get more frantic (which is why Mr NQN tells me that I would be a terrible Amazing Race contestant). And we’re at The Star, formerly Star City but with an overhaul and a new look marketing campaign. Everything [...]

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Coco Chocolates Sydney Chocolate School, Mosman

Not Quite Nigella — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:00:34 +0000

There’s only one thing that can provide comfort when you wake up at 8am on a cold, windy Sunday Spring morning. When you look over to see the glowing red numbers read 14 degrees and mumble “What happened to Spring?”. The normal instinct is to huddle under the covers with a loved one. However as [...]

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Kakawa Chocolates, Darlinghurst

Not Quite Nigella — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:00:52 +0000

Happy Monday to you Dear Reader! Today I am meeting Chocolate Pied Piper Myriam. The reason why I call her a Pied Piper is because she holds chocolate tours across Sydney (check out her upcoming 13 desserts of Christmas lunch!). This isn’t a chocolate tour but after reading about her rave for the Kakawa Lemon [...]

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Carre Noir, Mosman

Not Quite Nigella — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:00:49 +0000

Sydney somehow, strangely has become somewhat of a chocolate capital. Sydney-siders can’t get enough of the stuff and not only were we blessed with the very first Lindt chocolate store, we had a treasure trove of chocolatiers that would make any hardened cocoa bean addict weep chocolate tears of joy. So when Anne Maree, herself [...]

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Coco Chocolate, Kirribilli

Not Quite Nigella — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:00:12 +0000

I always think of male chocolatiers as a little bit Willy Wonka and female chocolatiers as a little bit Vianne (played by Juliette Binoche) in the film Chocolat. Female chocolatiers would have a softer, deft touch with the customers and sense intuitively what their needs and wants are as soon as they walk in the [...]

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Cooking for Kings, Princes & Michael Jackson & A Chocolate Implosion

Not Quite Nigella — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:00:37 +0000

Chef Paul Brown with Prince Albert of Monaco at the Royal Palace in Monaco When I read my fabulous friend’s interview with Paul Brown, the former Executive Chef to the King of Bahrain on her blog She Goes, I was so fascinated by the idea of being the chef for a Royal that I left [...]

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Boon Chocolates, Darlinghurst

Not Quite Nigella — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:00:49 +0000

First of all, HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Sydney seems to be gripped in the middle of chocolate fever. And do you hear me complaining? Not a jot. Because all it means is that I get to try more of one of my favourite foods under the guise of “research”. Boon chocolates [...]

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Adriano Zumbo Café Chocolat, Balmain

Not Quite Nigella — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:00:58 +0000

I could subtitle this: the world’s (or ok Sydney’s) most anticipated cafe opening. After waiting for weeks and penciling in several possible opening dates, holding time slots open on busy weekends and having each pass by without a hint or sniff of a glorious cake, here we are, 3 weeks later, sitting in the Zumbo [...]

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Guylian Cafe, East Circular Quay

Not Quite Nigella — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:00:47 +0000

Australia is not the kind of place that you think of when you think chocolate, our weather is mostly too warm for it I always feel (although it doesn’t stop me from consuming it). I always think of somewhere cold with falling snow for chocolate. But here in Australia we have the Max Brenner chain, [...]

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Colefax Coffee Lounge and Chocolate Shop, Haberfield

Not Quite Nigella — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:00:51 +0000

After my Easter visit to Colefax where I was told that a Chocolate and Coffee Lounge was forthcoming, I’d always meant to come back to see it, after they’d had a chance to settle in. A trip overseas and work always intervened and it came to September before I could come back and check out [...]

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