Sydney’s Quay is Retiring the Iconic Snow Egg Dessert

Quay’s executive chef Peter Gilmore has announced he’s putting a permanent freeze on the snow egg – one of Sydney’s most iconic desserts – and removing it from the menu for good.

Making its final flutter on 1 April 2018, the ice-cream-centred, poached meringue masterpiece that rests upon a nest of granita and fruit-rippled deliciousness has captivated gourmands for almost a decade, with 70 per cent of diners still requesting it.

The creation snowballed into a firm favourite following a cameo in the 2010 series finale of Masterchef and has kept a sturdy spot on Quay’s dessert menu ever since. In fact, in its 10-year lifetime, the snow egg has been served to a staggering 500,000 guests in a variety of seasonal flavours, from strawberry-guava to cherry and even jackfruit.

“This is a time of change and I want to be looking forward,” Gilmore explained in a press release. “It was a tough decision but removing it gives me the opportunity to grow and evolve the menu to give guests a new dining experience.” 

The dessert menu isn’t the only part of Quay about to undergo an overhaul. Renovations on the restaurant’s interior are set to start in April with TZG Architects, which counts Bennelong as previous clients, at the helm. The firm is aiming to bring a new intimacy to the harbourside space during the three-month closure.

Until then, an updated version of the beloved dessert including a fool of custard apple and mangosteen – a fruit to the Malaysian peninsula – with a pear granita and custard apple ice-cream, will be available for last-ditch dinners.

And despite the fact the snow egg is slated to turn to slush on April Fool’s Day, this announcement is firmly described by Quay’s reps as “no yolk”. It seems winter is coming after all.

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