Adriano Zumbo joins George Calombaris in South Yarra's Fridcorp Lilli development

Celebrity chef Adriano Zumbo is joining the likes of Masterchef’s George Calombaris and leasing a ground level retail space in Fridcorp’s South Yarra development Lilli.

It will be the first Melbourne store for the patissier, who signed a ten-year lease with two further seven years option.

The Lilli apartment development (pictured below) is now fully leased on street level, boasting Calombaris’ Mama Baba restaurant and Two Birds One Stone café. The former warehouse precinct has been turned into a place to shop, meet and eat with the 120-apartment complex built on the site of the notorious former Salt nightclub.

There are still a number of office suites available on level five of the Claremont Street project.

The celebrity chef Adriano Zumbo has been busy tantalising the tastebuds of Sydneysiders close to Balmain with his sweet creations like macaroons, moreish passionfruit tarts, gateaux and croquembouche before hitting national celebrity status as a Master Chef judge in 2010.

Zumbo and fellow Masterchef judge George Calombaris will be side by side at lilli where Fridcorp sought out the best culinary names for its Forrest Hill precinct development.

Designed by Hecker Guthrie and Elenberg Fraser, lilli will help expand Melbourne’s laneway culture to South Yarra with the final section of a pedestrian laneway forming a bustling retail hub connecting Chapel Street to South Yarra Station.

It was last July when the team behind Melbourne's successful Three Bags Full, APTE and Liar Liar cafes opened the doors to their latest dining destination - Two Birds One Stone -  on the ground floor of the lilli development.

Nathan Toleman of Two Birds One Stone suggested the cafe provided bespoke and intimate experiences not only designed for attracting a new crowd from 3141 and the surrounding postcodes, but for their loyal customers from their previous venues.

Mama Baba opened in January 2012, Mama Baba displaying the cultural influences of Calombaris' background.

"Mama Baba is all about handmade pasta influenced by my Greek Cypriot mother and my half-Italian father. 

"It's also about an experience," Calombaris said.

"We have brought back old school cocktails, local beers on tap and a wine list that focuses on Italian, Greek and interesting local varietals."

On its 2009 off the plan launch the pricing of the apartments at lilli ranged from $350,000 to $650,000 and in size from 45 to 70 square metres.