A bakery by the name of Autolyse opened in Central Park recently. Apparently, nothing on their menu is over $15.00. That’s not something I can attest to, though, because I was lured into the store by their dessert window. New dessert options around Chippendale are always welcome – there’s only so many times you can eat gelato or waffles before you want something different. It was one of those ridiculous days where you leave the house in beautiful warm weather, only for it to change to windy and cold by lunchtime. So we were grateful for dessert options other than gelato.
I had the key lime meringue. The thickness of the tart base was just the right thickness – it was thick enough to give the tart structure but thin enough that I wasn’t noticing it in every bite. The lime curd itself was zesty and sharp and a tinged just that little bit of green so that it not only tastes like lime, but it looks like lime. And the meringue was fluffy and blow-torched to perfection. By itself the meringue was very sweet, and the lime curd was very sour, but together, they balanced each other out beautifully.
N had the spiced pear tart. We both like pear flavoured foods, so it was only natural that she’d go for the pear tart. I had only a taste of the tart given my unfortunate allergy to Packham pears. To me, it tasted something like the mince pies you get at Christmas – the brown is definitely not chocolate. I don’t like mince pies, but if you do, then you’d enjoy this tart.
On another visit, I tried the chocolate tart with it’s perfectly gooey centre, with a dusty of salt crystals to break through the sweetness of the chocolate.
And finally, the lemon curd pie with the zesty and sharp lemon notes that made the key lime meringue such a hit.
After dabbling our toes into Autolyse through their dessert section, N and I finally ventured into their food menu. I’d read rave review after rave review about their food and especially their sourdough.
Of course, my first item from their food menu was the tomato, ricotta, greens bruschetta ($12.00). I have a weakness for bruschetta and this is a very generous bruschetta – it’s quite impossible to eat without moving much of a the salad off the sourdough first. But that’s okay because it was super tasty. Part of my aversion to salads, generally, is the exceedingly ‘green’ taste of some raw vegetables (like parsley, see below), but I liked greens chosen here (lettuce, rocket, basil). The tomatoes were firm and juicy (mushy overly ripe tomatoes are the worst). So this was tasty! I have plans to go back for this.
The second time I went to Autolyse, I had the chicken heirloom tomato salad ($13.50). I intended to order this the first time, but I will be forever glad I ordered the bruschetta because I probably wouldn’t have gone back to Autolyse if I had this first. When you call a salad a chicken heirloom tomato salad, you expect the chicken and the heirloom tomatoes to be the star of the salad. You certainly do not order the salad for the parsley or croutons. I’d seen quite promising photos of this salad with generous servings of tomato and chicken. Except this is what I got: an overly generous serving of parsley (which is definitely not my favourite – it tastes ridiculously ‘green’); super hard and chewy ‘croutons’ (I like my croutons crispy); and about 5 slices of chicken and 4-5 heirloom tomatoes. The disappointment with the salad aside, the accompanying sourdough was very pillowy soft inside and crispy on the outside.
On a later visit, I almost ordered the tomato and ricotta bruschetta again just to be sure. I was tossing between that and the mixed mushroom ragout on toast (an item I had not tried before). At the last minute, D also suggested I order the mixed mushroom ragout on sourdough to try something new. I’m glad I listened to D, because the mixed mushroom ragout on sourdough ($13.00) was absolutely delicious. The mushrooms (enoki and cup) were oh-so-buttery – you really cannot go wrong with mushrooms cooked in butter, I promise – and so, so generous. The enoki mushrooms were still crisp, while the cup mushrooms were smooth. It was really quite a tasty combination of textures. Invariably, the sourdough is crispy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside.
Autolyse is located at Central Park, Lower Ground RB10, 28 Broadway Street, Chippendale, NSW 2008.