Tweet Sweet

While in Cancun, Mexico last weekend, we asked the concierge where we should go for my friend’s birthday. She recommended La Destileria just a mile from our hotel. After a full dinner we came to dessert, and I was much too full to have anything too heavy, so I ordered ice cream. Our peppy waiter (I wish I had this guys energy!) recommended I try the Cinnamon Ice Cream. It sounded delicious, and so I order it. It came in a tall glass with a swirled brown cone on top and tasted just as good as it looked. Now I’m on the lookout for more. I hear that Ben and Jerry’s has a ice cream called Gingerbread Man that is similar, so I’ll have to give it a try. (It could only be seasonal here.)

One of my friends ordered a Banana and Caramel Crepe for desert that he said was quite tasty. Rather than rolling the crepe, they make it like a hobo’s purse (see picture below), and fill it with bananas, fresh whipped cream and toasted walnuts. It’s baked and and then served covered with cajeta (a carmel sauce made with goats milk) and cinnamon ice cream. My friend was surprise at how warm it was on the outside, yet nice and cool on the inside. Quite a nice treat after a hot day on the beach.

I’d like to encorporate some of these unusual finds into Tweet Sweet. Dessert choices that are different from the usual rich chocolate cake, tiramisu, New York cheesecake selection you get at every other eating establishment. So I guess more traveling, and more reviews!

Dessert Gallery: Bakery and Cafe
1616 Post Oak Boulevard
Houston, TX 77098
http://www.dessertgallery.com

My Ratings:

Review Summary:
This second location for the Dessert Gallery is a little bit tricky to find, but well worth the sharp eye. The desserts are rich in flavor, beautiful to look at and the selection is good. The ambiance in enhanced by the brightly colored walls, and flat screens showing desserts being made. Though they suffer from the typical “I can’t see the cakes until I order” dilema, the display cases are orderly and attractive. Two thumbs up - and I can’t wait to visit again.

My Visit:
So I arranged to have a day layover in Houston on my way to Cancun, Mexico for a vacation with friends. One of my workmates, when he heard that I was going to stay in Houston as part of my vacation time, said “why would you want to do that?” Apparently he doesn’t like Houston at all. I happen to like the city quite a bit myself, so while I was in town I thought I’d check out a couple sweet shops. Houston was rated as the 2005 fattest city in America by Men’s Fitness Magazine Perhaps it’s dodging the heat in front of the boob tube, or just the fact that Houston has so many places to eat out! Houston’s official site claims that Houstonians eat out more than the residents of any other city and while visiting, you can choose to indulge in one of the more than 11,000 restaurants ranging from award-winning and upscale to memorable deli shops.

After arriving, I had one of my friends give his brother a call (a Houston local) for a dessert shop recommendation. He said we should check out the Dessert Gallery which was located in the Galleria area where we were driving around seeing the sites. It took a bit to find, as it was located in the back of a very plain brown building with an unrelated Café out front. We found the parking lot full, as well as the small restaurant space overflowing with people.

Walking in the front door, I found myself right at the back of the line that was waiting to order. To my left were full tables, some of which were booths on a raised platform with a birds-eye view of the shop, to my right, more full tables – most of them bar-height. I looked up above the brightly decorated display cases to see what sweet treats they were offering. The menu read “Before Dessert”, which I found quite comical. It included items such as wraps, pastas and sandwiches. I hear that their food is just as good as their desserts. I looked high and low for their dessert offering, but didn’t see it. So I let my friends stand in line while I walked up to the front of the line and grabbed a printed menu. Still, no desserts. Hmmm. It looks like the desserts rotate I thought, and so there is no printed version. How about a chalkboard or something? So I waited in line until I could see the lovely display cases.

I’ve found that one of the problems with display cases like the ones used at the Dessert Gallery, is there are all very low for viewing. This wouldn’t be a problem, but it seems the line always starts right in front of the cases, and you’re either staring at someone’s butt or getting a slight glimpse through the crowd to select what you’d like to order (and feeling like you’re being rude the whole time to the people already in line.) This also slows down the line quite a bit since you have to wait until you get right in front of the case to decide what to order – and by that time, someone is waiting to hear your order and you feel rushed. The solution? Taller display cases. (Mark that on the list for Tweet Sweet).

After getting to the front of the line, and deciding on the Oreo Cheesecake and a big glass of milk, I stood next to the cashier and browsed numerous articles that the Dessert Gallery had been featured in and had framed for their walls. I was at the second location of the Dessert Gallery, the original started in the Kirby district of Houston in 1995. The colors were of yellow and purples and all brightly swirled on the walls. One of my favorite features of the little shop was their six video monitors installed over the dessert counters that showed different activities gong on in the bakery - decoration Gourmet Graphics cookies, icing cakes and assembling custom gift packages. As I ate my cheesecake, I oogled at the monitor while they made designs in icing and layered chocolate cakes.

My friends ordered a key lime cheesecake, and another a chocolate mousse cheesecake. I found both of theirs much tastier than mine, though mine was rich and very Oreo-ish. The key lime was not as tart as the version I had at the Cheesecake Factory (I like both, but the sweet one seems to go down easier) and was appropriately colored yellow. Anyone that has visited Key West Florida, as I have, knows that yellow is the true color of anything Key Lime. The presentation was simple – swirled colored sugar stuff on a small white plate topped with the cake. A nice touch was that every plate came with two forks – one for you and one to share. (I seem to remember a cute quote painted on the wall that was written about happiness and two forks.)

Ideas for Tweet Sweet: Yes on the monitors showing baked goods being made, Yes on higher display cases, Yes on a dessert menu that is displayed, even if only in chalk to make ordering easier and quicker, and Yes on 2 forks for every piece of cake.