Last Tuesday, after much anticipation Ladurée Sydney opened for business at Westfield Sydney. The late arrival of the highly celebrated French patisserie was due to happen in August among whispers of launch events and grand parties.
Now that the macaron giant has graced our city, I can’t help but feel a little cheated.
Ladurée Westfield Sydney
It isn’t the long queues snaking their way around the shopping mall that are reminiscent of Zumbo’s Macaron Day and Zumboron day. Nor is it the $3.30 price tag per macaron that some see as hefty or the fact that they are imported frozen from a Swiss factory. It’s another poignant point as distinctive as their pale green signature colour. What Ladurée Sydney lacks is ambience.
Ladurée Westfield Sydney
I have been to Ladurée in Paris. I walked straight into Ladurée Champs-Élysées on a Sunday and joined a slow-moving queue at Ladurée Bonaparte. Both times, I was greeted with an opulent interior, mood-lit macarons, three dimensional gateaux I wanted to bring home and the opportunity to taste them in a luxurious salon. The entire operation ran like clockwork, from the finger-wagging woman near the entrance declaring no photography, to the patient young man who took my order and the girl behind la caisse when I paid.
Ladurée Westfield Sydney
When I heard Ladurée was to open in Sydney, I had similar expectations of lavish premises, perhaps a salon in which to partake in delicacies, longish queues and a little romance of Paris in the heart of Sydney. But the location of Ladurée left me cold. The space it occupies in Westfield Sydney is literally a space that has seen pop-ups such as the Pommery Cube and the Christmas Cracker pop-up bar/restaurant. In other words, it is open, noisy and bustling with the ebb and flow of shoppers.
Ladurée Westfield Sydney
If this version of Ladurée is designed to match Australia’s laid back attitude, it leaves me disappointed. With its open surrounds and lacklustre atmosphere, it may as well be located in a sterile airport terminal.
Ladurée Westfield Sydney
As for the macarons, I have not yet braved the queues to make a purchase, so I will reserve that opinion until I do. In the meantime, I will hold on to the romantic memory of my visits to Ladurée Paris and secretly hope that Ladurée Sydney finds a new home that is not an open space.
Ladurée Sydney
Level 3, Corner Pitt St and Market St
Westfield Sydney, Sydney CBD
02 9231 0491
www.laduree.com
Photographs by Kevin Burke @ Gourmantic Copyright: All rights reserved.
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Why they couldn’t they have picked a better location inside Westfield is beyond me too… I’ll wait for the long queues to subside first before I buy!
It certainly begs the question…
Yes, very disappointing location. I was waiting with great anticipation for this opening. A grand salon in the Strand Arcade or similar would be much more befitting for the LaDuree brand !
You’re right Dianne, that’s more of a fit for their brand. I didn’t mind it so much when I heard it was in Westfield Sydney, but I never expected it to be out in an open space. Let’s hope it finds a better home!
No, it’s not quite the same gorgeous ambiance of the Ladurées in Paris but hey, at least you have them….. And yes, the Strand would be a great spot!
Hello,
Don’t forget that the Ladurée experience is in the mouth.
What is the point of having a Bonaparte or Rue Royale Or Champs Elyssées look salon when you can only have macarons and not the whole lunch and patisserie range ?
And you don’t have to wait to taste them to see if they are good or not. The Macarons from all Ladurée outlets (France or overseas) come from the same factory and they are all frozen. The best way to get them as tasty and as gorgeous as they are. BTW Pierre Hermé freezes his too.
So happy we can now buy Larudée in Sydney. Waiting for Hermé to be the next.