Black Star Pastry Newtown - Sydney

The signature strawberry watermelon slice delight, with rose scented cream.

What does a bakery have to do to stand out in a crowded field?   Sweet stuff cannot be eaten too much.  Customers at first tend to sample, taste and then only indulge. It may begin with pick ups, a rushed visit with good coffee and then ideas commence to form in our delighted minds.  We may want tea time snacks because we are concurrently doing something else - catch up with a girl friend, on a family outing, spending private time in arts and culture, chilling out on a special date or needing a perky wake me up.   We enter a patisserie these days not just because for itself.  Oh yes the exception is when we do yearn for a specific offering, like ordering celebration cakes.   To get them in, the menu can be a spectrum of both savoury and sweet based foods, for that lunching or breakfast experience.   To get them in again, and on a regular basis, is the whole experience offered.  Consistently, expectantly and with a wow factor.

Jersey milk from Warrnambool, Victoria.  That fact of sourcing ingredients by the Black Star Pastry - BSP - caught my eyes initially.    A menu item that does not require refrigeration on the run - something with popcorn - welcome, summer days!  Then there is Amedei chocolate combined with hazelnut to form a torte.  Hmm...the attention paid to ingredients, and how they are presented.  Special events, like those centring on truffle. have been organised. My sensations remembered  - nutty, subtleness, spongy, layers, crunch and unusual.

The La Marzocco machine is seen in many cafes these days in Australia.  It is more about the individuals behind that machine. And also behind the counter, the kitchen and in front of the customer.   Whether they are happy themselves. Most staff I came across here are young and seem to have a passion in this preoccupation with art, creations and experience.

Good things are not secured easily. The Newtown outlet of BSP can be shoulder to elbow crowd at times.  People do hang outside to wait. The baristas work hard to make each cuppa unique.  There is not much comfy seating, but then the idea is to select, pick up and come out with a smile on your face.

In the warm weather days, my ice coffee is heavenly.  The right blend, the right intensity and so different.  The ice cubes melt unobtrusively in the background, but not making the rewarding experience any less.  I watch the heritage building across the road. My subconscious leans back. Then I have a bite of that signature cake - sublime!  I am not bothered about the heave and burgeoning presence of people near me any more.

Quiet in the early hours, popular at rush hours - Australia Street.

Catering is available mostly in award winning miniature pies, baguettes and sweet canapés.  Orange cake slices with Persian fig, strawberry with pistachio tartlets and vanilla pannacotta with salted caramel jelly are stand out yummies at BSP stores and are in the catering menu as well.   These three items show gracious and clever combination of flavours, some harmonised, others contrasting and all turning out well when tasted.  Pastries and desserts can be sweet, so the balancing of ingredients, textures and proportions do stand out here.  Gluten , organic and free range - they are all here for choice.  And what is that thing , just called the Delicious Cake?

Hot Chocolate is Venezuelan in origin.   Coffee blends from the Little Marionette.   A vegan popcorn chocolate cake, yes you can have many things.  A dainty Japanese inspired Zen cake, with layers.  Christopher The is the person behind the creativity, look and customer experience at BSP.   Christopher 's resume as Pastry and Dessert Chef of Claude and Quay Restaurants in Sydney was an impressive start; now he has continued his culinary arts journey emphasising innovation and perfection in BSP.   Now in its seventh year, BSP continues to be a star in the food circuit in Australia just ask yourself why after a visit....



Black Star Pastry Newtown is located at 277 Australia Street.
Telephone: 612 9557 8656

Opening hours are 7am to 5pm every day.
Limited and causal seating, best for takeaway.  Vehicle parking is competitive.  Ambiance is informal, hipster and urbane.

Black Star Pastry is also at the Galleries Victoria, downtown Sydney, within the Kinokinuya Bookshop.

At Rosebery, southern Sydney, they are at C1, 85-113 Dunning Avenue.
Telephone:  Through the Newtown outlet number.
Opening Hours: Weekdays 8am to 3pm.  Weekends 8am to 4pm.
This is the most spacious of the three BSP locations in Sydney.