Paris, France (The Joy of Food) — I was introduced to Ladurée, and dare I say the finer things in life, on trips to Paris in my youth, when I was led hand-in-hand down the grand boulevards by my mother and given bites of the cloud-like little pillows of pistachio-flavored […]
Read MoreDessert
Dessert posts on The Joy of Food blog.
Sprinkles Cupcakes
Los Angeles, CA (The Joy of Food) — Sprinkles began as a haute cupcakery to the stars with this location in Beverly Hills in 2005, ushering in the era of designer sweets and the prices to match. Before Sprinkles, charging $5 for a cupcake would have gotten someone punched in […]
Read MoreCloak & Petal
San Diego, CA (The Joy of Food) — I’d avoided Cloak & Petal for a long time as a serious sushi contender in San Diego, given its presence in what’s supposed to be an Italian-centric area. Little Italy in name only now, it’s filled with trendy steak houses, modern burger […]
Read MorePorto’s Bakery
Los Angeles, CA (The Joy of Food) — Porto’s is a Cuban-French-Mexican-American bakery in and around the L.A. region popular for a mishmash of breakfast and lunch offerings at low prices. The catch? That would be the interminable line every minute of the day. In a world of designer drinks […]
Read MoreTenuta Vannulo
Naples, Italy (The Joy of Food) — Buffalo mozzarella is the pinnacle of dairy: that wondrous thing somewhere between yogurt and custard and cottage cheese and ricotta. Somehow, it manages to be both solid and liquid at the same time. When cut, it will weep outwardly in a perfect river […]
Read MoreAmy’s Ice Creams
Austin, TX (The Joy of Food) — To visit Amy’s Ice Creams is to buy ice cream from Cirque du Soleil, a place famous for their high-flying ice cream acrobatics, where team members (‘ice cream heroes’) are trained (yes, paid) to do things like hurl balls of ice cream into […]
Read MoreSarkis Pastry
Orange County, CA (The Joy of Food) — Sarkis Pastry is the house that baklava built, a Near Eastern bakery specializing in every type of baklava found under the sun. There’s one walnut-filled baklava called “kul-wushkur” which translated from Arabic means “taste and give thanks to heaven,” a phrase that […]
Read MoreRosetta Bakery
Miami, FL (The Joy of Food) — Entire religions have been founded on miracles less profound than the Italian bombolone, a type of doughnut that’s deep-fried and then filled with custards, creams, or hazelnut (the mighty Nutella, of course). To find this type of fried carbo perfection in Miami Beach, […]
Read MoreFireman Derek’s Bake Shop & Cafe
Miami, FL (The Joy of Food) — There is pie. And then there is Key lime pie. The Key lime is a special little fruit, substantial, acidic, and strongly fragrant, more in its aftertaste than in its first full-frontal hit. You could, I think, eat a whole lot of Key […]
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