Adriano Zumbo is Australia’s answer to Willa Wonka, as evidenced by his pastry creations; flavoured macarons including Lime & Mint Mojito and Raspberry Caramel and his decadent Man Goes Peanuts cake with peanut butter crunch and mango burnt honey mousse.

Luchetti Krelle were enlisted to create Zumbo’s latest undertaking at the newly refurbished casino, The Star. Part retail shop and part dine-in restaurant, both spaces are connected by a ‘dessert train’ that snakes through the large open kitchen and out to anxiously waiting patrons.

With the kitchen on show, filled with giant mixers and industrial droppers, the idea of a production line within a working factory was born. All the processes involved in the concoction of Zumbo’s various creations are revealed to visitors against a clean, white and ordered backdrop, complete with a large measuring cup!

In a nod to his hero, Zumbo has a Willy Wonka tattoo on his arm, a number of quirky elements were included in the space. These evolved from the exploration of the colourful, luscious, saccharine substances being composed in the kitchen. Coloured Marblo is stacked like a liquorice allsorts and cut and layered like dripping icing. Macaron wallpaper in the dining area conjures childhood memories of lickable wallpaper.

The popular board game Mouse Trap also inspired some of the more eccentric additions to the store. As a board game that consists of moving parts controlled by cranks and gears it was the perfect fit with the underlying concept of a kinetic factory of fun. The storefront contains cakes displayed in ‘mouse traps’, specially commissioned by industrial designers Luxxbox, while the chocolate display in a bathtub is at risk of walking off with its shiny purple boots.

The Adriano Zumbo dessert restaurant and retail shop required the rethinking of the whole concept of dining. With only dessert on offer and with Zumbo’s reputation as a quirky cake-maker on the line, the concept explored the best way to showcase his creations. The expectations of Zumbo’s many followers who queue anxiously at his other stores had to be not only met but exceeded. What they have come to expect from his cakes and desserts, surprise, novelty and innovation had to be found in his new venue. The whole space becomes a spectacle of theatre, retail and hospitality merging into a hybrid space that shows all aspects of the creation and consumption of cakes and desserts.

The dynamic shopfront serves as a framework for the display and performance occurring within; the coloured lights and moving parts capture the attention of the people queued patiently to enter. The various installations had to cater not only to the people inside the shop but to entertain those waiting and attract the passersby. It is the intricate candy coloured cogs at the axis of the train that perform the most important role. As they turn the conveyer belt slowly ambles by with its cargo of delectable inventions uniting the distinct spaces.