Star Plated Summer Desserts
Ah, the dog days of summer, when seasonal desserts are a gourmet's sacred refuge from the torment of too much sun, sand, and humidity. Late summer and early autumn are the best of all seasons for serious dessert lovers, when many fruits are at their peak. Winter fruits, picked before they're ripe, not only tend to lose their flavor, but are often too tart, overwhelming other flavors, not to mention our senses. Not to worry—you still have time to enjoy delectable summer deserts.
The old cliché has merit: "With most cuisine, we eat to live, but with dessert we live to eat!" The creation of a great dessert is an art form, and pastry chefs in New York City excel in this artistic endeavor. Manhattan executive pastry chefs have a passion for creating new dessert forms and techniques. Borrowing from various cultures to create exquisite new confections is the order of the day, and perfectly matches the multicultural living and dining experience that so defines New York City. Because Manhattan is unquestionably one of the cuisine capitals of the world, we decided to embark on a star-plated dessert tour to experience the seasonal offerings from some of the most fabled restaurants in Manhattan.
Plated desserts usually consist of one main item with a garnish and a sauce. The offering can be as simple or as technically complicated as the chef's imagination and discretion allow. Lovers of grand cuisine know that creating a great dessert requires professional technique, precision, drama, and, on certain occasions, decadent presentation skills. A major culinary shift away from the pastry cart toward the individual plated dessert began in Europe during the late 1980's. Star restaurateurs in Europe knew this would be an opportunity to allow their pastry chefs to make individual presentations, reaching a wider customer base, and even drawing traffic to their locations. The following plated desserts are offerings from some of the finest pastry chefs in New York City.
Le Cirque
ONE BEACON COURT
150 E. 58th STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10022
212 379-6944
http://www.lecirque.com/index2.htm
The legendary Le Cirque is always worth a visit. Since 1974, it has housed its stellar operation at two different major Manhattan hotels, all the while maintaining an unblemished record of dining excellence. On May 31, 2006, Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccioni unveiled the new Le Cirque at its current East 58th Street location. Maccioni appreciates that the dessert is the final salute to a great meal and an evening of culinary theater. And, since desserts are often served cold, a lot of preparation can be done ahead of time. Now is the time to enjoy superbly prepared, wonderfully presented, individual desserts that truly complement the meal and the season at restaurants like Le Cirque.
Le Cirque Executive Pastry Chef Vincent Jaoura understands the delicate balance between creativity and the classic approach to pastry. Jaoura, who was previously in-service at two European Michelin-starred restaurants before joining Le Cirque, has created the following two plated gems that are light, delicate, and beyond delicious. Jaoura's desserts maintain the integrity of the classical without sacrificing creativity. Ah, if only our political systems worked as well as the pastry kitchen at Le Cirque.
Union Square Cafe
21 E.16TH STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003
212 243-4020
http://www.unionsquarecafe.com/
Danny Meyer opened the Union Square Café in 1985 at the tender age of twenty-seven. The Café went on to pioneer a brand of culinary hospitality that paired great food with comfort and value. Meyer's Union Square Café has since twice achieved the coveted three-star New York Times rating and has been consistently ranked by the Zagat Survey as the first or second most popular restaurant in New York City.
The Café's new Executive Chef—only its second in twenty years—Carmen Quagliata, has maintained the casual but upscale dining experience that remains the hallmark of this restaurant's thirty-three-year appeal. With one of the best green markets in New York City only a few steps from his kitchen, Quagliata can genuinely boast of having some of the freshest plated dessert dishes in town. By the time the customer has finished their entrée, the palate is saturated, so the dessert has be something that ends the meal with a delightful purr, not a cannon shot. Featured below are two of Chef Quagliata's summer plated-dessert selections.
Panna Cotta with Greenmarket Berries, 25-year Balsamic and Pistachio Cookie
Summer Stone Fruit with Honeyed Goat Cheese
Lever House Restaurant Bar
390 PARK AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10022
212 888-2700
In fewer than five years, the Lever House Restaurant Bar has become an established destination for lovers of grand cuisine. The quiet elegance of the dining room, conceived by noted designer Marc Newson, creates an environment where fine food with superb wine pairings can be even more deeply appreciated.
Executive Pastry Chef Rachel Binder works her plated-dessert artistry in this world of white-shoe finance and luxury-fashion designers. Binder has a delicate yet wholesome approach to creating desserts, a softness combined with technical precision that produces a clean flavor. Her pastries are dense, moist, and served up with just the right amount of grand theater. And, while Binder has a distinctly international approach to pastry making, she manages to add a sense of the City to the classical dessert menu at the Lever House.
Strawberry Shortcake Black Pepper Pound Cake
Black Raspberry Consomme
Gordon Ramsay at the London
151 WEST 54th STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10019
212 468-8888
http://www.gordonramsay.com/gratthelondon/
Gordon Ramsay maintains the only Michelin three-starred restaurant in all of the United Kingdom. And in less than one year, he has transported his success across the pond to West 54th Street, where he has achieved a Michelin two-star rating within one year. The restaurant has three distinct dining experiences, all uniquely satisfying. The British truly understand service, and, at the London, Gordon Ramsay has recreated a dining experience in the main room that has all the relaxed formality and dignity of a London private dining club.
When I enjoy a summer dessert in a restaurant like Ramsay's, I recall a famous quote by Mark Twain about the joys of tasting summer fruits: "When one has tasted cold watermelon, one knows what the angels eat." Gordon Ramsay's standard seasonal plated desserts include Chocolate Crèmeux with Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Lychee Granité, and Apple Tarte Tatin with Vanilla Ice Cream for Two. These desserts are definitely meant to be consumed by a higher intelligent life form.
Chef de Cuisine Josh Emett oversees the menus at the restaurant, while Chef Ron Paprocki serves as the Executive Pastry Chef. The seasonal dessert offerings are light, zesty, in short, magnificent. Chef Paprocki has given us the following two plated desserts for this feature.
Lychee parfait with Granny Smith apple gelée, cider caramel and fennel pollen
Peach Chiboust with Lemon Pound Cake, Champagne Gelée and Strawberry Meringue
Le Bernardin
155 W.51TH STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
212 554-1515
The best description for the food at Le Bernardin would be cuisine for royalty. The highly rated Le Bernardin understands completely the divine simplicity of great cuisine. Accordingly, Michael Laiskonis, the Executive Pastry Chef, does not create desserts, he sculpts masterpieces. Laiskonis, recognized as a major force in the world of fine pastry, was lauded as the Outstanding Pastry Chef of 2007 by the James Beard Foundation. He has twice been named by Pastry Art & Design as one of the top ten pastry chefs in America. This is because Liskonis' plated desserts are an exquisite balance of art, science, and a passion for perfection down to the smallest detail.
Laiskonis' desserts have a punch but delivered with panache. These plated delicacies are light, airy, with a compelling undercurrent of decadence. Long after the spicy appetizer is forgotten and the perfect entrée a waning afterthought, a dessert by Monsieur Laiskonis will remain in your memory. These are three of Laiskonis' superb offerings.
Panna Cotta, Rose Sorbet, Raspberry Pearls Candied Cocoa Bean
Banana-Lime Cream, Dark Chocolate
Sweet Chèvre Parfait, Fig "Cylinder", Bacon Ice Cream, Red Wine Caramel, Hazelnuts
All great pastry chefs start with a deep desire to make someone outrageously happy. So, the next time you have an opportunity to enjoy a first-class plated dessert, ask yourself this question: How often in life does someone with whom you have no personal contact try to make you happy? For this reason, my fellow passionate dessert lovers, have fun choosing the best part of the whole meal.
With each successive year, the wonderful summers of my childhood grow dimmer and dimmer. In three months, another winter of discontent will be upon us. Now is the time to enjoy a grand dessert, a sensual and exciting gastronomic experience that can drive you to new heights of epicurean delight. Ah, a delicious summer dessert is one of the last true remaining childhood pleasures.
Bernard G. Butler is an author, and current Chairman of African American Academy of Arts & Letters