extraordinary desserts!!

next to the san diego zoo, this is my absolute FAVORITE place in san diego. hands down, no two words about it. there are two locations: one in hillcrest and one in little italy. and i favor the latter b/c: 1) the hillcrest one is kind of small, 2) someone got shot/stabbed at the hillcrest one, 3) the little italy one is way spacious and has great interior design, and 4) the little italy one offers a much better display of karen krasne's delicious masterpieces. emphasis on masterpieces.

even if you never set foot in either location, you'd need a drool bucket just staring at the incredible photos and descriptions online. ever since a friend brought me here a few years ago, the tastes and textures of karen's delicious cakes have been burned into my memory. and i've had monthly (or weekly or daily) pangs to go.

after many angst-ey FB posts, judy mentions that she's available this weekend if i needed a quick ED fix. and of course, i almost fall out of my chair with joy. (i literally had a panic attack when i thought we might not be able to go b/c she felt sick the night before! thankfully, she felt better. whew! crisis averted..)

needless to say, i was thrilled when she was up for doing brunch instead of dinner. plus, it was the perfect meal to have after a nice, long, swim workout. just the thought of all that sugar put me into a tailspin. a happy tailspin, that is! :)

one of the best things about the little italy location is that they have a savory menu on top of their wide array of sweets & teas. this is totally strategic, b/c even if you stuff yourself on their yummy salads & sandwiches, there's no way you'd leave w/o getting dessert -- even if it has to be in a to-go box.

as soon as you walk in, you're greeted by a series of display cases, filled with tiers and tiers of lovely cakes and pastries. it's like you're in a museum and willy wonka's chocolate factory at the same time. all you want to do is stare and touch and grab and eat, stare and touch and grab and eat, stare and touch and grab and eat.... well, you get the point. if you went and looked at every single item carefully (the way my brother does w/museum placards), it'd probably take you at least 15-20 minutes. i know, b/c, well, i've done it. and seriously, don't judge until you get here.

even though i was distracted momentarily by all the gorgeous sweets, judy made a beeline for the hostess and we were seated right away. after she'd mentioned on FB how good the grilled cheese sandwiches were, i didn't even really bother considering any other options (though the paninis looked quite good). we both decided that coffee and grilled cheese were the way to go. judy w/her fontina, roasted poblano, and pumpkin pesto. me w/my gruyere, caramelized white onions, and whole grain mustard.

both sandwiches sounded really balanced in terms of salty/sweet, and i know mine was quite scrumptious. the sandwich was done panini-style w/all the ingredients sandwiched in nicely w/in the edges of the bread, and everything oozing out *just* slightly when i bit into it. to some degree, i wished the sandwich had been a bit more substantial. (i suppose i was expecting a bit more oozing!) then again, i could've just been hungry and wanting that portabello & brie panini i was eye-ing. *sigh* ;) the only other real criticism i had was that the bread was a little greasy, so i suppose a little less butter would've suited me better.

regardless, the sandwiches were merely to make sure we didn't have *just* sugar in our tummies upon departure. and as soon as we were done w/them (and we pretty much polished them off), we sauntered back up to the front of the house to make our dessert picks. after choosing our own favorites, we decided on which ones we'd be willing to split, and we went w/the ivoire royale and the triple chocolate mousse torte. (FYI that i'd pretty much decided on the roasted coconut cream torte after surveying the options online, but unfortunately, it didn't show up in the case until we were already done! i totally should've asked whether they had it, but thank goodness for lina's upcoming visit! :D)

out of the two, the ivoire royale was definitely my favorite. the vanilla bean soaked pound cake was super light, the berries offered just the right amount of sweetness and acidity, and i'm an absolute sucker for white chocolate mousse and white chocolate shavings. even though i always tell myself that i want coconut or lemon or fruit, i always seem to get pulled in by chocolate. needless to say, it happened again. this time, the triple chocolate mousse torte did me in. even though i'm glad we tried it (especially since i just noticed online that it's the "most recent decadent addition"), i found it way too dense and way too rich. i literally had had enough after a few bites, though i felt like i should continue eating it so as to not let it go to waste! while tiramisu isn't usually my dessert of choice, i'm thinking now that judy's pick of the torta misu (ED's version of the traditional dessert) might've been a better way to go. thankfully, i found out ED is one of her favorite places too! so we'll just have to get that next time. :)

to anyone who EVER visits san diego, this dessert paradise is NOT too be missed. and for those of you who want to try a little bit of everything, ED also offers a lovely sunday brunch spread!

extraordinary desserts
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/