Peter Gilmore's Snow Egg no more

Sydney restaurant Quay is temporarily closing for renovations on April 1.

And Peter Gilmore, who has served up so many cult desserts, from Lune croissants and to the macaron, will be serving up his last Snow Egg on that date.

The Snow Egg-  a meringue "egg" filled with ice-cream and wrapped in a maltose tuile, sitting  atop a base of fool and granita – made its début at Quay 10 years ago.

It has since become known as one of Australia's most well-known dishes and has been on the menu ever since.

And there have been at least 20 different versions of it.

The different guises include the original strawberry guava, white nectarine and, at Christmas time, a cherry version.

And it’s graced five magazine covers.

Gilmore calculates there have been at least 500,000 snow eggs during that period.

And he says the number rose sharply after it appeared on the 2010 MasterChef finale.

"I think it was like a perfect storm," Gilmore told Gourmet Traveller. "That episode was one of the most watched programs on Australian TV and the dessert just caught people's imaginations."

There will be a whole new kitchen, a new-look dining room and, of course, a new menu with the renovation.

"Sometimes you have to completely abandon the past to be able to move forward," the chef told Gourmet Traveller. "We've come to that time where we're refitting Quay and redoing everything. The restaurant will be completely transformed."

Gilmore plans to serve up more classics in one sitting at a one-off dinner on 28 March.

Diners will be in for a new snow egg flavour of pear, custard apple and mangosteen.

And he will also be serving up other niceties including the sea pearls dish, chicken with truffle and mud crab congee with matched wines by Amanda Yallop.

"It's time to address the next thing that's on the horizon and I don't know what that will be yet. It's an exciting time,” Gilmore told Gourmet Traveller.

Leon Getler 13th March