The beautiful black sesame panna cotta, sour cherry sphere, mandarin sorbet

2011 has to go down as one of the most exciting and tumultuous years ever for the top end of the New York pastry chef world.  On the exciting side: Bravo’s Top Chef : Just Desserts franchise finished its second season with NYC’s own Johnny Iuzzini as the head judge and a bevy of New York based pastry chefs as guest judges and hosts.  Alex Stupak, another of NYC’s elite pastry chefs, finally got the praise he deserved for his restaurant Empellon, proving once again that pastry chefs can make the switch into savory (or management) and blazing a trail for future pastry chefs to follow. (more…)

Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Le Bernardin | 2 Comments »

Nectarine posset with elderflower and shiso

Annisa reopened a little over a year ago after a fire destroyed the original 10-year old restaurant.  Normally, if you want a Saturday night reservation you have to give a few weeks notice but after I told then I was with DessertBuzz they opened up there entire schedule for us (actually they probably never heard of dessertbuzz, but they did have a cancellation!) (more…)

Annisa, Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Expensive restaurant desserts | No Comments »

Chocolate souffle from The Four Seasons Restaurant NYC

When I first found out I was going to lunch at the Four Seasons, I was pretty excited but soon realized that despite growing up in New York City, I really knew nothing about this storied institution except that it has very special chain mail window shades.

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Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Four Seasons | 5 Comments »

Dovetail's baked chocolate tart with pretzels, caramel and beer ice cream

On Sunday we were in the mood for a fine dining experience, but, like many New Yorkers, we can’t just drop $100 per-person whenever we please.  That’s where this recession thing comes in handy.  Even some of the best restaurants in town have special deals to lure more diners when things are slow.

Dovetail's banana bread with spiced walnuts

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Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Dovetail | 1 Comment »

detail of the Valrhona Chocolato Sabataggio dessert

Antonio Bachour of Quattro restaurants in Miami and New York was just named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in the US for 2011.  Here are some of his latest menu items from the New York menu.  Full review coming soon.  Please click on the images to view in a larger size. (more…)

Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Daniel, Quattro (New York) | 8 Comments »

Green gauge plums from New Zealand

Last Wednesday a friend took me to Le Bernardin for lunch and aside from being my first visit to a 3-star Michelin restaurant, I was excited to finally meet one of the rockstars of the culinary world.  Someone who has won James Beard awards and been recognized as one of the top chefs in the US.  He has even been a judge on Top Chef–the real standard of your status in the culinary world!  Of course I am referring to Michael Laiskonis, Le Bernadin’s executive pastry chef (no disrespect to the other executive chef at Le Bernardin, Eric–something?). (more…)

Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Le Bernardin | 7 Comments »

don't miss the Bomboloni with apricot filling

One thing becomes clear after spending even a few minutes with Executive Pastry Chef Antonio Bachour: he takes his desserts and his craft unbelievably seriously.  Many experienced pastry chefs operate with passion, but Bachour’s level of enthusiasm is on a whole different level.  A highly caffeinated level.

Torta Piemonte Di Nocciole (Piedmont Hazelnut Cake)

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Best Gelato, Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Quattro (New York) | 16 Comments »