Sunday, September 08, 2002


chocolate flourless cake with chile

normally i'm not the biggest fan of the above dessert -- usually chefs use too much of the wrong kind of chile, to my mind. but tonight i had a very nice one at a nouvelle-regional-mexican, alma. the dense, moist cake's deep chocolatey-ness was subtly enhanced by a light touch of mild, nearly-somehow-sweet ancho. normally, i think this cake is kind of a holdover from the early 90s. but alma offers a pleasant rendition and for some reason tonight i wasn't rolling my eyes at the cliche.

while a roof-top overlooking the dock cranes at red hook may not at first strike you as a promising place for a yummy chocolate nibble, alma works. their sweet plaintains bathed in a rich mole poblano sauce with sesame seeds could also be a dessert instead of side dish if the chef just dusted a little powdered sugar on the plate. . .

the intense vanilla flan is also quite good. unlike most, this is not too heavy, not too rubbery, and not too sweet. it's fluffy, light, delicate but drenched with a pure vanilla flavor you just want to bathe in. imagine a lovely creme brulee but without any of the too-burnt caramel you so often suffer through. . . . . all good.

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