Overview
The minds behind the multi-layered delight that is the legendary Strawberry Watermelon Cake — which has lit up Instagram feeds across the world since its inception in Sydney over a decade ago — headed south last November, opening the doors to a Black Star Pastry pop-up in St Kilda. It closed, like many restaurants did, at the start of the pandemic, but now it's back — permanently.
Making its home beneath Acland Street's Jackalope Pavilion — where the now-closed, hopefully-reopening-soon exhibition Rain Room is located — the team's first permanent Black Star Pastry outside of Sydney follows a successful 2017 pop-up in Carlton, as well as plenty of outings at Melbourne's Night Noodle Markets over the years.
The new pop-up store is serving up a selection of Black Star smash hits, the bill headlined, of course, by that Strawberry Watermelon Cake. Sporting layers of almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream and watermelon, this little beauty sells around one million slices annually across the brand's four Sydney stores and was even dubbed the "world's most Instagrammed cake" by the New York Times.
Other favourites making the journey south include the Pistachio Lemon Zen Cake — another layered sensation featuring pistachio ganache, white chocolate mousse, lemon curd and crunchy pistachio dacquoise — and the Raspberry Lychee Cake, which fuses chocolate biscuit, raspberry marshmallow and vanilla cream. Also on the lineup: custard flans, croissants, a vegan chocolate popcorn cake, a Dragon Cake (made with thinly sliced dragonfruit and jelly ripples) and a Japanese Forest Cake, which has matcha moss, dark chocolate bark and whole confit ume (plums).
The sweet stuff is complemented by St Ali coffee and a contemporary, minimalist store space, featuring neon signage by UK artist Tracey Emin proclaiming "you loved me like a distant star". And, in a win for those who don't like waiting — or don't like heading out in the current climate — customers can also pre-order a range of cakes online and skip the queues with express pick-up. Those cakes are for all types of celebrations, too, ranging from four to 45 portions (but do keep in mind the current restrictions on gatherings).
For the moment, the cafe will only be open on Saturdays and Sundays, but hopes to add on additional days in spring.
Find Black Start Pastry at 2C Acland Street, St Kilda from Saturday, July 4. It'll be open from 9am–4pm Saturday–Sunday.