First Service: After a Three-Month Hiatus, Sugar Man Scoops Up a Cool New Gelato Concept

When Alex “Sugar Man” Crawford opened his first retail store on Hutt Street, it wasn’t long before his pastries gained cult status, with droves of customers lining up each weekend to get their hands on things like Basque cheesecake tarts, black forest cigars and signature scroll-shaped almond croissants, before they would inevitably sell out.

But it was “a double-edged sword”, he tells Broadsheet. “For a micro business, it was hugely humbling that people took the time out of their weekend to wait in line for our product. But it placed a lot of pressure on the team each week. We couldn’t respond to customer demand with the speed and volume that people wanted to see.”

He and sous-chef (now business partner) Stephanie Taylor began experimenting with gelato – first as pairings for pastries, then packaging up their own batches. Soon, the pair decided to switch up the Sugar Man concept entirely. After a three-month break, the new-look Sugar Man Gelato opened on Friday.

Crawford describes gelato as a “more exciting canvas for creativity”. “My ethos from day one was to utilise South Australian produce, or – if we can’t source it here – turn to other producers in wider Australia. Gelato emphasises the flavours and textures of said produce. We also wanted to be able to dive into vegan and gluten-free options; something that is very hard to do in viennoiserie.”

Crawford has kept his word with dairy-free single-origin chocolate gelato, made using 65 per cent Valrhona Grenada dark chocolate; a strawberry sorbet made with Adelaide Hills strawberries and freshly scraped vanilla bean pods; and a yuzu, salted coconut milk and Thai basil scoop, made using locally grown Thai basil and yuzu from Leeton, NSW.

There’s also “salted butter caramel on sourdough toast” made with Jersey butter from The Dairyman Barossa and hunks of toasted, locally-baked bread; and Riverland-grown black Genoa figs – poached in Frederick Stevenson sangiovese – swirled through whipped ricotta from La Casa Del Formaggio. Plus, tiramisu featuring sponge made in-house with Laucke flour, Kangaroo Island free-range eggs and Rio Vista olive oil, dipped in The Coffee Barun espresso and Unico Zelo’s Caffe liqueur, then layered with zabaglione and La Casa Del Formaggio mascarpone gelato.

Everything is made from scratch, without pastes, gels or colours. “I want farmers, artisans and producers to succeed in this country and there’s only one way to do that – support them,” says Crawford.

The renovated store has replaced its Neapolitan ice-cream-coloured branding with a “late-night, old-school club” aesthetic featuring terrazzo, pine wood and a blood orange, black and gold colour scheme. There’s also a small ice-cream churner out front to give people “a sneak peek behind the curtain” and demo some “wild, wacky” flavours as one-off samples. “We’re going to use it to make some more quirky combinations and have customers do taste tests on the spot,” says Crawford.

His crowd-favourite Basque cheesecake tart, which was made in collaboration with chocolatier Steven ter Horst, makes a custardy comeback in silky gelato form. It’s the first of several collaborations with some of Australia’s best pastry chefs.
“This change has been the best thing for me. I finally feel confident and passionate again – we can’t wait to welcome everyone back into the store.”

The Sugar Man Gelato
197 Hutt Street, Adelaide
No phone

Hours:
Wed to Sun midday–9.30pm

@sugar.man.adl
www.thesugarman.com.au