Where to go for best desserts downtown?
Where to go for best desserts downtown?
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Where to go for best desserts downtown?
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Post #1 - October 9th, 2006, 9:27 amComing to Chicago in December. Already set for dinner, a show and pizza. Looking for a great dessert. Not to go along with dinner, just a dessert only location. Have nothing in particular in mind. Hoping there is something unique to Chicago that we need to try while we are there. Afternoon or evening - doesnt matter. Just a place for a great cup of coffee and a unique, awesome dessert. Thanks !!!
Last edited by downstater2 on October 9th, 2006, 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #2 - October 9th, 2006, 9:33 amI recently read about the new cupcake buffet at the Ritz Carlton. It's on Saturday nights, 9-11pm, $18pp.
Cupcake becomes ritzy dessert
The Cincinnati Post
August 18, 2006
From staff and wire reports
Cupcakes have had a major comeback from being mere kids' food for decades.
These days, more from-scratch cooks are having fun baking the little cakes in nonstick muffin pans and topping them with vertical enhancements such as fresh-fruit pieces or various combinations of candies and whipped-cream swirls.
Cupcakes, like s'mores, have also captured the fancy of professional pastry chefs.
The Ritz-Carlton Chicago executive pastry chef Anthony Chavez pays modern tribute to an old-fashioned classic with the Aug. 9 debut of his weekly "Saturday Night Cupcake Buffet." It's offered in the Greenhouse at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, Saturday evenings, from 9 to 11 p.m.
These pint-sized cakes are baked from scratch each Saturday afternoon in the hotel's pastry kitchen and offered in a variety of creative, cross-cultural flavors that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
"Each cupcake is a fun, miniature version of the classics," says chef Chavez. "We all share memories of these celebratory desserts, so thought it would be fun to enhance them with a sophisticated update."
Each Saturday evening, amidst the starlit setting of the Greenhouse, guests can select from among a variety of cupcake flavors, including: blackbottom cake, hazelnut praline, Black Forest cake, New York cheesecake, Boston cream pie, orange savarin, carrot cake, raspberry Sacher torte, coconut cake, Tres Leche (caramel and brulee flavors, we'd guess), tiramisu with espresso emphasized, double-chocolate fudge
and vanilla buttercream.
Chavez uses the finest ingredients in his little delicacies, including pure vanilla, heavy cream, sweet butter, organic honey, Valrhona chocolate mousse, Michigan-grown cherries and Asian coconut milk. The chef tops each little cake with whimsical chocolate designs made by piping melted chocolate onto a marble slab for it to set and harden. These make the vertical cupcake accents when they're inserted into the top of each.
The price of the Saturday Night Cupcake Buffet in the Ritz-Carlton "Greenhouse" restaurant is $18 per person for an unlimited selection. For more information, phone the Greenhouse at (312) 573-5154
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Post #3 - October 10th, 2006, 10:08 amunfortunately, everyone ends up at Sugar:
Sugar: A Dessert Bar
108 W. Kinzie St.
if you enjoy Suhail's space, give:
F212
401 N. Wells St.
a try... it's often dead on the weekends tho...
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Post #4 - October 10th, 2006, 10:09 amTonyC wrote:unfortunately, everyone ends up at Sugar:
Sugar: A Dessert Bar
108 W. Kinzie St.
Not any more.
It closed a while ago.
Best,
Michael
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Post #5 - October 10th, 2006, 10:12 am^ excellent news.
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Post #6 - October 10th, 2006, 10:16 amActually, I saw something in the Tribune last week (article about the Loop as a neighborhood) that said Sugar was going to re-open in a new location. Great, huh.
Other dessert options (not that I've been to these myself
): what about the chocolate buffet at the Peninsula, or the dessert-only option at Tru?
Or Hot Chocolate?
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Post #7 - October 10th, 2006, 10:17 amLet's remember it with a new, actually-works link to a classic Chowhound post which, as someone in another thread said, is "scarifying." (Although I have to say, rereading it all these years later, it seems much less so than it did then. I guess after all those foams and gelees and all those downtown "scenes," I'm harder to appall now...)
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/111510#603871Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
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Post #8 - October 10th, 2006, 1:15 pmDear Mike,
Mostly by chance, I've dined at a couple of new "Nuevo Latino" restaurants in Chicago lately -- Cuatro in the South Loop, and Delacosta in River East. In both cases, I've found dessert to be absolutely outstanding -- creative, fresh, not too big, beautifully presented. All our dining companions commented on the originality and tastiness of the desserts -- pairing chocolate, caramel and the like with latin and tropical flavors.
I mention this because both restaurants have very nice bar seating areas, so I would guess if you wanted dessert and an after-dinner drink, in a chic setting, both would do the trick.
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Post #9 - October 10th, 2006, 1:24 pmSugar...HA!
While house-hunting in Chicago in January of 2005. My wife and I had dinner at the now closed Pili-Pili. After a darn good dinner (why did that place close?), we walked in sub-twenty degree temps up the street to Sugar (suggested by our hotel). First the bouncer (bouncer?) asks if we have a reservation (reservation?). Nope...we just want dessert. "That'll be a $10.00 cover each", he says. "TAXI!" I says.
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Post #10 - October 10th, 2006, 1:45 pmrdb66 wrote:Dear Mike,
Mostly by chance, I've dined at a couple of new "Nuevo Latino" restaurants in Chicago lately -- Cuatro in the South Loop, and Delacosta in River East. In both cases, I've found dessert to be absolutely outstanding -- creative, fresh, not too big, beautifully presented. . .
You dined at DelaCosta?
How was your meat and potatos?
Personally, even though I live within easy walking distance, I wouldn't go there since I am not big on going to non-steak houses where the chef refers to Chicago as a "meat and potatos" town.
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Post #11 - October 10th, 2006, 2:32 pmI personally love Grand Lux Cafe's desserts. Their specialties are molten chocolate cake, apple tart and beignets served with 3 different dipping sauces. They also have ginormous layer cakes (which I've never tried but they look pretty good) and all sorts of cheesecakes (the place is owned by the same company that owns Cheesecake Factory)."There is no love sincerer than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish writer.
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Post #12 - October 13th, 2006, 5:06 pmDML,
The meal was really quite good, sometimes very inspired, although I think you could do the same style/quality of food for less money at other places. Definitely had early restaurant jitters, but the staff was eager, friendly and accomodating. Some ceviches were great, others not. We had a lamb chop dish and a crispy skin pork dish that were really awesome. And the desserts were really outstanding. I think all these trendy new restaurants are doing more creative, superlative work on dessert than any other course. Either that or my sweet tooth has turned up a notch.
I usually judge these uber-hip places on whether I feel welcomed, or am treated like the national honor society secretary who accidentally went to the key club meeting instead. For now, at least, it was hip but very welcoming. I was unaware of the chef's unfortunate comments. He should stop by here more often and find out what real Chicagoans like!
If I were out for a romantic dinner, well-dressed and with a beloved companion, this would be a great spot to share a drink and dessert.
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Post #13 - October 13th, 2006, 5:23 pmRdb66,
What restaurant are you talking about?Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
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Post #14 - October 13th, 2006, 6:37 pmSorry -- Delacosta.
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Post #15 - October 14th, 2006, 5:44 amMaybe this shows why chefs should just cook and not talk to the press about the food. Or at least if they do, they should not insult the locals. Particularly when the local's cooking includes places like Alinea, Avenues, and Tru which can stand up to the best three in any city.
In all seriousness, I found that Delacosta's comments pretty offensive. If I would go in there, I would just assume that the meal was being dumbed-down.
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Post #16 - October 14th, 2006, 6:07 amWhat about Hot Chocolate? (http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/)
It's in Wicker Park, so I don't know if that qualifies as downtown, but it's probably worth the trip. Heck - I'm coming in from Michigan for several meals in Chicago, one of which is there.
Mindy Segal's desserts were by far the best thing about my long ago meal at MK, so I was thrilled to hear that I'd have a chance to try them again.
[/url]My blog: tammystastings.blogspot.com
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Post #17 - October 14th, 2006, 8:28 amI think that you can get desserts (and champange) in the front lounge of Tru for limited hours in the evenings. I think that might be fun. It is a lovely space.
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Post #18 - October 14th, 2006, 11:09 amtoniRogersPark wrote:I think that you can get desserts (and champange) in the front lounge of Tru for limited hours in the evenings. I think that might be fun. It is a lovely space.
This week's Chicago Reader restaurant feature on new places covers the Tru lounge (along with BB's and La Cantina Grill).Joe G.
"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement
