Desserts:

Bring Your Swet Tooth to These Sinful Spots
By Vanessa Garcia

For those days when you want to skip the protein and go straight for dessert, here are some places that will satisfy your aching sweet tooth. Ice-cream and chocolate frosting; tarts so delicate they look like lace; blissful bon-bons and baked delights – it’s all sinfully in reach and on the menu.

Let’s start with the classic Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant in Dania Beach. Serving up much more than ice-cream, this place is a tribute to days gone by. Although the restaurant has changed with the times, it’s been around since 1959 and something of the old-school parlour (check out the spelling) still remains strong here. American memorabilia lines the walls and history simmers in the air (the restaurant’s owners, the Udell family, always had a streak of rebellion in them; ignoring laws in the sixties, for instance, that enforced racial segregation). Today, the politics are not so turbulent, but the icecream’s still bigger than life. You can order a “Hot Digitty Dog” ($8) or one of “Monroe’s Wraps”($9-11), but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll take General Manager, Jerry Smith’s advice, and order The Kitchen Sink ($12.75 per person – for parties of 4 or more). It is served in a contraption that resembles a sink. Each person in the group ordering it chooses one flavor of ice cream.

The scoops are then capped with a strawberry topping, chocolate syrup, marshmallow, cherry pineapple topping, whipped cream, mixed nuts, bananas and cherries. Add to that a couple of lit sparklers and the sound of an old fire engine siren as the Sink is delivered to the table.

In line with the astronomical size of The Kitchen Sink, are Barton G Restaurant’s desserts. A high-end paradise for foodies, Barton G’s on Miami Beach has one of the most inventive and campy approaches to desserts. Blending top-of-the-line flavor with over-the-top designs, it’s hard to go wrong when ordering any part of your meal here – from Sashimi Snow Cones ($18) for starters or Disco Grouper for your entrée ($32). But, when it comes to desserts, here are two carnival-inspired desserts from the slew it has to choose from: Big Top Cotton Candy ($24) and Carnival Fun Cakes ($29). Big Top Cotton Candy is a towering fluffy cloud of sugar mounted atop caramel and chocolate popcorn; yogurt and chocolate pretzels. The funnel cakes include dipping sauces, powdered sugar, and even a toy pistol to boot. And as if all of this weren’t enough, Barton G has just recently introduced a new location at The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts called Prelude.

For a more low key experience, try Coral Gables’ 50-seater Caffe Vialetto, a charming Italian fusion dinner solution with a neighborhood feel. For dessert, co-owner Ernie Fernandez recommends The Funk and The Bomb. The Funk is Vialetto’s signature dessert – a homemade version of tiramisu, funked up. It is made of lady fingers

layered with mascarpone cheese, Heath bar crunch, and served with a blueberry sauce ($9). The Bomb is a homemade double layered chocolate cake with Heath bar also served with blueberry sauce ($9). Another popular treat is the homemade cheesecake (Guava and Dulce de Leche -- $9).

Also in Coral Gables, Chocolate Fashion is located in a cozy little nook on Andalusia Avenue. The smell of fresh baked goods hits your nose right when you enter. Here, you’ll find a slice of France in Miami – lunch on warm croissant sandwiches and fresh orange and mango juice. Then, end your meal with its many chocolate, dessert, and pastry choices. Bite into one of its tarts, danishes, or brioches and you’re transported to Paris. Try the Apricot Almond Tart ($3.65); assorted truffles ($1.35 ea); the Crème Brulee ($2.95); or the Mango Mousse ($3.75).

On the trendier end of the dessert case, there’s Ice Box Café off of Lincoln Road; Solo at The Fontainebleau Hotel; and Phillipe. At Ice Box Café, take the cake Oprah Winfrey featured on the segment "Best Cake in America" – The Bomb (apparently, a popular name for desserts). It’s a chocolate cake with cheesecake brownie and chocolate mouse. Other favorites include the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, the coconut buttercream cake, and the peanut butter-Oreo ice cream cake (All slices run between $6-$7).

Solo is a confectionary dream. Heaven dipped in chocolate and coconut shavings, laced with banana cream. Cases and cases of strawberry marshmallow, honey soft nougats, hazelnut milk, chocolate biscotti, Cassis soft caramel, chocolate pralines, chocolate cakes, macaroons, and truffles. These chic pastries are available to eat in or takeout. All of these pastries brought to you by the grace of award-winning pastry chefs Jean-Marie
Auboine and Sylvain Bortolini (Pastries range in price from about $3-$6).

Philippe is a sleek and chic restaurant brought to you by renowned Chef Philippe Chow. Hailing from Hong Kong and Hollywood, his delights have finally reached Miami. The place is decorated with red and white clean lines, and modern furnishing and the desserts are just as sleek. In terms of dessert, it’s best to take Pastry Chef Keith Freiman’s advice and dip into the Red Velvet Cake ($14).