Our critics' 15 favorite restaurant desserts
Quick Summary
Almost every eatery on Long Island has its list of sweets, from simple to complicated, hot to cold. Here are 15 favorites from 15 restaurants, chosen by Newsday's food staff.
Photo credit: NEWSDAY/CRAIG RUTTLE | The three berry tart at Trattoria Diane in Roslyn.
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Do you always order dessert?
We do, too.
Almost every eatery on Long Island has its list of sweets, from simple to complicated, hot to cold. Here are 15 favorites from 15 restaurants, chosen by Newsday's food staff.
Calorie counts are NOT included.
FRUIT COBBLER
The Lake House: 240 W. Main St., Bay Shore, 631-666-0995
Cost: $8
The ripe fruit cobbler changes by season at The Lake House. The blueberry-and-peach production is another reason to savor July and August. The strawberry-blueberry number rivals it. These desserts are finished with vanilla bean and sugar, and capped with a biscuit-like coverlet. Sophisticated and homey at the same time, completed with Tahitian vanilla ice cream.
CANNOLI
Casa Rustica: 175 W. Main St., Smithtown; 631-265-9265.
Cost: $8
Cannoli are the classic Sicilian sweets, pristine and perfect. A warm sfogliatelle, the multilayered pastry that resembles a shell, sometimes comes close. Likewise, sfingi made to honor St. Joseph. But the cannolo reigns. Casa Rustica prepares a delectable version: perfectly fried, pastry-shell tubes filled with just-sweet-enough, whipped ricotta cream and chocolate chips, plus a hint of vanilla and cinnamon.
ZABAGLIONE
Arturo's: 246-04 Jericho Tpke., Floral Park; 516-352-7418
Cost: $11.25
This warm custard is claimed by Venice and Florence. Basically it's egg yolks, sugar and Marsala, the fortified Italian wine, whisked together and served immediately. The warm, frothy, foamy result works on its own but tastes terrific with berries. At Arturo's, the zabaglione, made at tableside, is served atop strawberries and vanilla ice cream.
GINGER-ALMOND TART
Mirabelle: 150 Main St., Stony Brook; 631-751-0555.
Cost: $8.50 - $9.50
Sweet but with a subtle spice note, the ginger-almond tart served at Mirabelle Restaurant and Mirabelle Tavern stays as inviting in fall and winter as it does during warmer weather. It balances flavors and textures and keeps everything light, even when accompanied by freshly whipped cream.
HONEY-PINE NUT TART
North Fork Table & Inn: 57225 Main Rd. (Route 25), Southold; 631-765-0177
Cost: $12
A little work of art, the "bees' needs" pignoli tart looks as good as it tastes. The main sweet, of course, is honey. And the tart could stand comfortably alone. But the delicate disc becomes more appealing alongside sheep's milk ricotta ice cream and red wine-poached figs. If you love pignoli cookies, figs, anything connected, this tart is a reverie.
--Picks by Peter M. Gianotti
BANANA PUDDING
LL Dent: 221 Old Country Rd., Carle Place, 516-742-0940
Cost: $5
Leisa Dent, chef co-owner of this welcoming Southern restaurant, makes a lush, old- fashioned banana pudding. Dent works her magic with vanilla custard and vanilla wafers, finishing it off with a baked meringue on top. She always serves the pudding warm. "Life isn't good unless it's warm," Dent says, offering a philosophy to both eat and live by.
CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE
Stresa: 1524 Northern Blvd., Manhasset, 516-365-6956
Cost: $9 a person
Giorgio Meriggi, co-owner of this classic ristorante, is the creative force behind this airy, bittersweet tower of power. Order at the beginning of your meal, and you'll be well rewarded at its end: First, the hot souffle is presented; then, Grand Marnier sauce and freshly whipped cream are proffered (say yes to both and dig in.)
WHITE CHOCOLATE-MACADAMIA NUT CHEESECAKE
Campari: 225 Main St., Northport, 631-757-6700
Cost: $7
David Eldridge, co-owner of this friendly Italian restaurant (across from John W. Engeman Theater) is a pastry chef who can change your view of white chocolate. He changed mine with a cheesecake that's opulent and clean-tasting. If it's not available (Eldridge changes desserts daily), virtually every finale he presents is its own theater.
BEIGNETS
Grey Horse Tavern: 291 Bayport Ave., Bayport, 631-472-1868
Cost: $10
The kitchen at this polished South Suffolk tavern turns out alluring little doughnuts that are flawlessly fried, impossible to resist. They're served five to an order, paired with chocolate ganache, raspberry preserves and vanilla gelato. There's nothing like the contrast of warm beignet and cold gelato.
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Sarabeth's: Lord & Taylor, 1200 Franklin Ave., Garden City, 516-742-7000
Cost: $6
This department store cafe (part of dessert diva Sarabeth Levine's growing empire) does honor to an all-American favorite. Forget any instant puddings that may have crossed your path; this one's the genuine article, made with heavy cream. It's intensely bittersweet, its satiny texture punctuated by flecks of shaved chocolate; on top, it wears a crown of freshly whipped cream and a mint leaf plume.
--Picks by Joan Reminick
CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE
18 Bay: 18A Bayville Ave., Bayville, 516-628-0124
Cost: $10
18 Bay’s classic chocolate cupcake, resolutely flourful and unmolten, is rich and moist, but not fudgy or gooey, exactly what chocolate cake should taste like. It is lavishly topped with warm ganache and served with unsweetened whipped cream and a garnish of fresh fruit.
HALVAH PARFAIT
Tel Aviv: 613 Middle Neck Rd., Great Neck, 516-466-6136
Cost: $5.50
Halvah is rarely pressed into service when a light dessert is called for, but the chefs at Tel Aviv use the dense sesame candy to provide the flavor base for this elegant "parfait" that is sauced with tahini and silan (date syrup) and garnished with a delicate sesame tuile. The result is equal parts exotic and refined. Plus, it's kosher and dairy-free.
THREE-BERRY TART
Trattoria Diane: 21 Bryant Ave., Roslyn, 516-621-2591
Cost: $8
The one dessert that cannot be taken off the menu, the three-berry tart is handiwork of Diane Margaritis, wife of chef-owner John Durkin, herself boss at adjacent Diane's Bakery Café (where you can pick up an 8-inch tart to go for $24). The three berries: blueberry, raspberry and strawberry, under a lattice crust, accompanied by homemade vanilla ice cream, crème Anglaise and raspberry sauce.
CHOCOLATE CHIP-PECAN COOKIES
Grand Lux Café: 630 Old Country Rd., Roosevelt Field, Garden City, 516-741-0096
Cost: $6.95
This over-the-top restaurant offers six baked-to-order finales - molten chocolate cake, beignets, pineapple upside-down cake, chocolate cupcakes, rustic apple pie, chocolate chip-pecan cookies - that must be ordered with your entree. The chocolate chip cookies are warm, buttery and butterscotchy with a perfect balance of nuts and chocolate; I've never had better. A dozen come in a box for an insane $6.95.
HOT FUDGE SUNDAE
Itgen's Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant: 211 Rockaway Ave., Valley Stream, 516-825-7444
Cost: $4.95
Itgen's is one of Long Island's best old-fashioned ice cream parlors, and it serves the best hot fudge I have ever had. The topping is free of emulsifiers or anti-thickening agents, so that when it hits the ice cream (also homemade, also excellent) it seizes up, forming a textural and temporal contrast instead of just combining with the ice cream to form a loose, ever-warming mush.
A proper sundae, with two scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry, runs $4.95. You also can buy the sauce in a jar, 5 ounces for $2.35; 10 ounces for $4.10; 16 ounces for $5.65.
--Picks by Erica Marcus
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