Dessert Menu

Curious as to what your thoughts about dessert menus in restaurants are. I noticed that even in well regarded restaurants the dessert menu is small and sometimes non existant. (A meal at Giant ended with the server verbaling the 3 desserts). I know many restaurants forgo hiring a pastry chef to cut on labor but is this something that you miss? Or does it not bother you? Personally I try not to order too much of what I can make myself at home and I never make desserts (other than the occasional crumble or ice cream) and I enjoy going out for desserts but have a hard time finding an extensive menu. Thanks for the opinions!

Good topic; dessert does seem to be an afterthought at some venues. I think profit margin is likely a factor; desserts generally are inexpensive and since it adds a course, it holds up a table longer without generating much extra revenue. That said as a customer I do greatly enjoy a nice dessert at the conclusion of my meal and if it delivers it definitely enhances my overall dining experience. Sepia, Momotaro and Entente are a few a la carte venues that come to mind where I recently enjoyed excellent quality, interesting desserts (Sepia and Momotaro have new pastry chefs).

Gonzo70 wrote:as a customer I do greatly enjoy a nice dessert at the conclusion of my meal and if it delivers it definitely enhances my overall dining experience.

I agree. Another place where I've loved the desserts is North Pond, even as they rotate different pastry chefs in. And just the night before last, I loved the desserts at La Sardine. Another place where the desserts are consistently superb is Restaurant Michael.

I also agree that dessert quality varies widely. However, I don't associate selection with quality. If a place has only three desserts but they're all terrific (and are at least somewhat different from each other), that's just fine with me. In a few days I'm going to a restaurant* whose website dessert menu looks limited (five choices plus ice cream/sorbet) but all of which sound great, and I'm looking forward to the dessert course.

I'm not sure why desserts at some places are just not that good, or not that interesting. Perhaps those are places that don't have pastry chefs, but even so, any good chef should be able to turn out a few great desserts, without specializing in pastry.

*Curious where? Click here.

Gonzo70 wrote: I think profit margin is likely a factor; desserts generally are inexpensive and since it adds a course, it holds up a table longer without generating much extra revenue.

I feel this hits the nail on the head. The leisure element of dessert, coffee and conversation is antithetical to the hyper-capitalized state of American consumption. The rapid growth of fast casual and appeals to shortened attention spans of consumers has reduced the scale of dessert within the dining industry. Unless the restaurant has a digestif revenue stream to offset the inefficiency of the price-capped additional course, they lack the financial incentive to offer it.

I don't like the foregoing reality, but I see it as the cause nevertheless. Too much Richard Posner has gone through my head to help myself.

bweiny wrote:Unless the restaurant has a digestif revenue stream to offset the inefficiency of the price-capped additional course, they lack the financial incentive to offer it.

Most nicer restaurants have that stream. And given some recent dessert prices I've seen, they aren't necessarily price-capped.

A very interesting topic indeed. I can say from my experience cooking in several fine dining spots in Chicago that time/revenue was never a factor when considering the dessert menu but it has always been the availability of resources to develop and execute desserts.

When there was a pastry chef, and for that matter a formaggiaio/cheese person, the dessert menu was far more elaborate and thought out. There was always a stable of classics that rotated through the menu, however when there wasn't a pastry chef the other chefs chipped in and helped with new desserts. While I wouldn't say that the overall quality suffered at the hands of the savory chefs I do feel imagination and innovation of the desserts were not what they could be.

Dessert is definitely a favorite course for me and I will say it is a letdown when the meal is amazing and the dessert seems like an afterthought for the restaurant. Even just having 2-3 really standout desserts that do not need to be elaborate can do the trick.

I've been to far too many places where the desserts were a complete let down at the end of an otherwise great meal. I now ask "what's made in house" before ordering. I can't count the number of times when a dessert came out that looked good but essentially tasted like sweet sawdust, not worth the calories.

Time for a story. A restaurant in Concord NH, name long forgotten. They were trying to serve food that was waaaay beyond their ability. Time for dessert and the server sang the praises of the options specially made for them by a local bakery. We succumbed and when they were served there was a piece of cardboard on the bottom. When asked why it was there, the server said "oh, we leave those on when we DEFROST them, otherwise they tend to fall apart. Sigh