Hearthe is the latest project by Christopher Thé, founder of Black Star Pastry, now operating under separate ownership. Where Black Star Pastry leaned towards broadly accessible and visually iconic flavour combinations, Hearthe functions more as a community café and experimental pastry space, drawing heavily on Australian landscapes, native botanicals, and indigenous ingredients.
2023
The early menu already established the venue’s interest in Australian native flavours interpreted through contemporary pastry formats.
Paperbark Dacquoise ($10.00) — eucalypt caramel, smoked chocolate ganache, macadamia, white kunzea honey, saltbush seeds, wattleseed, honeycomb.
The cake visually and structurally referenced eucalyptus bark and native Australian bush flavours. Initial contact delivered dense syrupy sweetness alongside aromatic eucalyptus and smoked chocolate notes that immediately distinguished the dessert from more conventional pastry formats. Texture combined chewy dacquoise, sticky caramel, soft ganache, and brittle honeycomb into a highly layered structure reminiscent at times of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dessert traditions.
Through the mid-palate, savoury native spice elements from wattleseed and saltbush complicated the sweetness and initially challenged expectations of what a cake should taste like. The eucalyptus caramel anchored the dessert strongly, creating an unmistakably Australian aromatic profile rather than functioning as novelty alone. White kunzea honey and honeycomb gradually reinforced the dessert identity by restoring familiar sweetness against the more herbal and savoury native ingredients. Finish resolved into lingering eucalyptus, honey, and roasted nut richness.
Overall, highly experimental but cohesive.
Passionfruit Danish ($12.00) — crème pâtissière, dragonfruit, pomegranate, rose, mint.
The pastry presented as a carefully assembled laminated Danish balancing fruit freshness against custard richness. Initial contact delivered crisp laminated pastry beneath thick and gently sweetened crème pâtissière. The pastry layers retained notable structural definition without becoming greasy or overly heavy. Through the mid-palate, dragonfruit introduced cooling firmness while pomegranate seeds provided bursts of acidity that sharpened the softer custard profile. Rose contributed restrained floral depth rather than perfume-like dominance, while mint added lift and freshness through the finish. Texture combined crisp pastry, creamy custard, juicy fruit, and popping pomegranate seeds into a highly controlled layered structure. Finish resolved into lingering floral and fruit acidity with restrained sweetness.
Overall, elegant and well balanced.
Even in its earlier stages, Hearthe clearly reflected lessons carried forward from Black Star Pastry while moving towards a more distinctly Australian ingredient philosophy. The flavours were less immediately accessible than mainstream pastry formats, but considerably more individual and conceptually coherent.
2026
By 2026, the bakery had begun revisiting and reinterpreting some of the founder’s earlier signature creations through the lens of native Australian ingredients.
Strawberry Watermelon Cake 2.0 ($11.00) — reinterpretation of the original Black Star Pastry Strawberry Watermelon Cake featuring rose myrtle and strawberry gum.
The revised version retained the recognisable fresh-fruit structure of the original while introducing additional native aromatic layers.
Initial contact delivered fresh strawberry sweetness and soft creaminess familiar to the original cake format, though the inclusion of rose myrtle and strawberry gum introduced more herbal and aromatic complexity through the opening palate. Through the mid-palate, the almond-and-pumpkin-seed-flour base contributed subtle nuttiness alongside a faint vegetal depth that differentiated it structurally from the lighter sponge of the earlier version. The pumpkin seed flour also imparted a muted green hue that visually reinforced the native ingredient focus without feeling artificial or gimmicky. The dried muntrie berries layered onto the strawberries introduced concentrated tartness and chewy bursts of native fruit intensity that sharpened the softer cream and watermelon elements. Finish resolved into lingering berry aromatics, soft creaminess, and gentle herbal lift from the native botanicals.
Overall, recognisable but more layered and distinctly Australian in flavour identity.
Overall, Hearthe is a contemporary pastry venue defined by native Australian flavour integration and structurally layered desserts, strongest where indigenous ingredients are used to deepen rather than merely novelty-brand familiar pastry formats.
Hearthe is located at 16 Douglas St, Stanmore NSW 2048.