What's the new "it" dessert

[Julefish]

So remember when it was creme brule, then orange creme brule, then chocolate molten lava cake, then flourless chocolate cake, then bread pudding, then, ugh, chocolate bread pudding. What is it the dessert of the moment...and what will the next dessert be? Also, where do you head for great dinner with equally good and creative desserts? I just chowed on mediocre churros and ice cream sandwiches at Table 8 - which both tasted like treats I could have found in the frozen food section at Trader Joes...

[LuluBleu]

Olive oil gelato at Craft and Olive oil sorbet at Osteria Mozza. Clearly olive oil is big right now.

[PlatypusJ]

I had a dessert that incorporated olive pit ice cream at Trio in Chicago in 2002!

[Porthos]

The olive oil gelato has been at Otto since it's inception. Many have tried to put olive oil gelato on their menu with varying success. I remember one version that pretty much resembled a puddle of goo. Batali's version is probably the best out there.

[tokyoastrogirl]

The butterscotch budino at Mozza. It's the best dessert ever on the planet in the universe of all of man kind from the beginning of time. It is. I just is.

Tuna Toast http://tokyoastrogirl.blogspot.com/

[Maxmillion]

^ It really is.

[Babette]

Yes, it's delicious--plus I think I've heard of this butterscotch budino concept popping up elsewhere, can anyone think where? Doesn't imitation makes even it more "it?"

[Nicole]

Agree with suggestions of donut variations and unusual ice cream flavors. Seems like these are on the menu at many upscale restaurants...an interesting trend, given that donuts and ice cream aren't traditionally upscale foods. The same thing could be said for the cookie platter thing, although I actually haven't noticed that as much. But maybe the restaurants I go to aren't "it" enough for me to have notice it yet.

[Amuse Bouches]

I think it's donuts and donut variations. Like the churros at Table 8, beignets at Lucques and the Hungry Cat, the doughnuts at Grace and now Craft.

[Pamela]

My observation is that the current fad in desserts is ice cream, gelato, and other desserts in more "exotic" flavors. Many seem to be Asian-inspired, even if only superficially (e.g., green tea ice cream, green tea mochi, black sesame gelato, etc.), while other desserts use ingredients typically not found in desserts (e.g., avocado ice cream, lavender ice cream, chili or cayenne pepper ice cream, etc.). There are also desserts with the unusual sounding/exotic names that invariably make them a sort of fad (e.g., gravel road ice cream, a flavor from Jeni's Ice Cream).

[Porthos]

I'm going to say souffle and souffle impersonations. I'm not sure when where to find a good souffle in LA though. The chocolate, grand marnier, and orange souffle seems to be popping up all over the place in general.

Also beignets or impersonations of. Some beignets are just dounuts but it sounds better on a menu.

[SauceSupreme]

I would say the new "it" dessert is the cookie platter. It plays right into a diner's sense of nostalgia, discovery and indecision.

Fraiche has quite a good cookie platter. I also had it at Craft, but they have way too much lavender floating around the dessert station during prep.

[millygirl]

I agree. At my last dinner party I served some gelato and a selection of cookies, rounded off with fresh strawberries and some chocolates for color. Big hit!!!

[Debbie W]

Are you saying lavender got into dishes where it doesn't belong or wasn't mentioned on the menu, at Craft? I really dislike lavender in food (and other flowers such as roses, which are too, uh, floral). We're going to Craft next Thursday so any advice in this regard is appreciated.

[SauceSupreme]

It was just in the cookie platter, I noticed lavender in the scone as well as one of the other confections. It was certainly there by design, and cookie platters rarely have full disclosure of their contents. Don't let the aversion to two cookies spoil a fantastic dinner at Craft, though; just go for the salty chocolate tart instead.

[slacker]

"way too much lavender floating around the dessert station"

I did not previously feel a need to run to Craft right away, but now I do. :) Iove that lavendar.

[SauceSupreme]

There's lots of reasons to run to Craft right away. I, for one, thought the lavendar mini-scone (sconelet? sconini?) was a miss, but that's a minor quibble given that I had a great time at Craft.

[Julefish]

ahhh - the cookie platter - been there done that - remember the ivy's "famous cookies" blech

[Diana]

Nostalgiadesserts.

The next big thing.

I can't wait till Jello with fruit or marshmellows or other stuff floating in it becomes big again.

Let's try an experiment, and begin hyping fancy gelatin desserts on here, and see how long it is before Providence, Spago, Simon LA, Grace and such start offering "Jello Tasting Flights" and brides do Jello wedding cakes.

[Woolsey]

Will they be cakes made out of Jell-O molds and Jell-O Jigglers, or the old-fashioned Jell-O cake, where one takes a cake, pokes holes in it, pours the Jell-O over it, and refrigerates it, getting a gelatinous, sort of marbelized cake thing?

Jell-O cake was the suburban, WASP version of tres leches. You know, I can just see a hipper-than-thou bakery in Silver Lake selling slices of the stuff for six bucks a serving...

[Diana]

Well, I was thinking of glistening, wiggling towering layers of Jello molds.

Each layer could have a different thing suspended in it.

Or a-la Cupcake tiers, they could be tiered cake plates with individual sized molded jello things. Each one with a single piece of fruit or marshmellow suspended in it.

They could throw jigglers instead of flower petals or rice.

Than again, the jello cake thing sounds interesting.

[Dommy]

You can actually get something like that at Van's Bakeries in the Vietnamese Neighborhoods in L.A. and OC... :)

--Dommy!

[Diana]

Ohhh! Ohhh! Field trip!

[katkoupai]

Aside from the cheap-street-food-sold-at-high-end-restaurants trend, the cupcakes trend and the frozen yogurt trend are alive and well. For cupcakes, my favorite so far are the strawberry shortcake cupcakes at Violet's in Pasadena. These are made with white (or yellow?) cake, fresh cream and fresh strawberries.

www.violetscakes.com

I still go to 21 Choices or Penguin's for frozen yogurt and have not tried Pinkberry, Pingo, or any of the other knock-offs yet. I would like to try the green tea and plain frozen yogurt once the Pinkberry in Pasadena opens.

www.21choices.com

-----
21 Choices Frozen Yogurt
85 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105

Violet's Cakes
21 E Holly St, Pasadena, CA 91103

[The Chowhound Team]

Folks - pardon the interruption - but please keep your replies focused on where to find such exisiting "it" desserts in the Los Angeles area. If you want to discuss "it" desserts generally, please start a thread on the General Topics board.

Thanks!

[fdb]

you forgot to mention tiramisu....

[justagthing]

i thought tiramisu was the 'it' dessert before creme brule, sorry, i do consider it passe.

[millygirl]

I agree with justagthing....tiramisu - been there, done that!!!

[bubbles4me]

I'd say the new "It" desserts are not too sweet, salted chcoclate, savory ice creams like tangy greek yogurt and olive oil seems to be the trend right now.

[Emme]

Lots of comfort food options like the junk food sampler at Simon LA, S'mores options, donuts, etc.

I wish the new fad would turn into Sticky Toffee Pudding :-) Come to love the Haagen-Das ice cream.

[Woolsey]

I think Royale has something like that, too, serving cotton candy for dessert.

[Emme]

Come to think of it, Porterhouse Bistro serves cotton candy too...

[tonicart]

I love that new flavor too :-)