Adriano Zumbo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Adriano Zumbo
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Zumbo in 2017
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| Born | 6 November 1981 Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia
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| Occupation | Pâtissier |
| Spouse(s) | Nelly Riggio |
Adriano Zumbo (born 6 November 1981) is a famous Australian pâtissier (that's a fancy word for a pastry chef!) and a TV star. He's known for making amazing and sometimes super tricky desserts. He opened his first dessert shop in 2007. Soon after, he became very popular by appearing on MasterChef Australia many times.
Adriano Zumbo is also the host of his own baking show called Zumbo's Just Desserts. He's also a judge on the Netflix show Sugar Rush. Because of his amazing and sometimes challenging desserts, people have given him fun nicknames like "Sweet Assassin," "Patissier of Pain," and even "Australia's answer to Willy Wonka."
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Early Life and Sweet Beginnings
Adriano Zumbo was born in 1981. His parents, Frank and Nancy Zumbo, came from Italy. He grew up in a town called Coonamble in New South Wales, Australia.
His parents owned the local IGA supermarket. This is where Adriano first started loving sweets and learned about running a business. He also spent some time in Italy when he was young. There, he learned to appreciate different types of coffee. You can still see this influence in some of the coffee-flavored treats at his dessert shops!
After finishing school in 1997, Adriano moved to Sydney. He began training to become a pastry chef. He learned from some of the best chefs in Australia and France, like Ramon Morato and Pierre Hermé.
Adriano's Delicious Career
Adriano Zumbo started his career by making homemade tarts, muffins, and banana bread. He would sell them to local cafés in Sydney. Later, he sold his treats at farmer's markets.
In 2007, he opened his very first dessert shop in a place called Balmain. By 2017, he had ten dessert shops across Sydney and Melbourne!
In 2018, his company went through some changes, but his stores continued to stay open.
TV Shows and Dessert Challenges
Adriano Zumbo has been on many TV shows. In 2011, a six-part TV series called Zumbo showed what his daily life was like in his Balmain kitchen. It was shown on SBS One.
He has appeared on almost every season of MasterChef Australia. He first challenged contestants in season 1 with a huge croquembouche (a tower of cream puffs!).
In 2010, he challenged contestants to make his raspberry-beetroot and black olive macaron "tower of terror." After that episode, his shop sold 5,000 macarons in just three days! That's four times more than usual.
Another famous challenge was his "vanilla V8 cake." This cake had eight amazing layers of vanilla, like glaze, cream, and macaron. It was created to celebrate Margaret Fulton's 85th birthday. This cake was even named one of Sydney's top cult desserts in 2016!
In August 2016, Adriano co-hosted a cooking show called Zumbo's Just Desserts with Rachel Khoo.
He also became a judge on the Netflix series Sugar Rush in 2018. The show is hosted by Hunter March.
In 2023, Adriano also competed on the first season of Dessert Masters.
Adriano's Books
Adriano Zumbo has also written books to share his amazing recipes and ideas.
- Zumbo, Adriano (2011). Zumbo: Adriano Zumbo's fantastical kitchen of other-worldly delights.
- Zumbo, Adriano (2012). Zumbarons: a fantasy land of macarons.
- Zumbo, Adriano (2015). The Zumbo files: unlocking the secrets of a master patissier.
Personal Life
In 2017, Adriano Zumbo started dating Nelly Riggio, who was a contestant on the TV show My Kitchen Rules. They got married on May 6, 2018. Adriano and Nelly are expecting their first child in November 2023.
