Sign up for our newsletters   

Baltimore City Paper home.
Print Email

Eat Feature

D is for Dessert

Vaccaro's · Cheesecake Factory · Adrian's Book Café · Moxley's · Louie's Bookstore Café · Coney Island

Jefferson Jackson Steele

Eat Special Issue 1999

Alphabet Soup We know where we like to go for a good burger--and we'll bet you do too. Or a good omelet. Or a good...

A is for Appetizers The Helmand · Café Madrid · Henninger's Tavern · Café Zen · Grand Palace · Morgan Millard · Al Pacino Café · Sarah's Café · Iola Café

B is for Breakfast Jimmy's · Blue Moon Café · Golden West Café · Morning Edition Café · Helen's Garden Café · Hull Street Blues Café · Loco Hombre · Weber's on Boston · Suburban House

C is for Carry-out DiPasquale's · Cosmos · Rotisseria · Chow Mein Charlie's · Chokchai · Thairish · Caribbean Kitchen · Viccino's · Michaelangelo's · The Roost

D is for Dessert Vaccaro's · Cheesecake Factory · Adrian's Book Café · Moxley's · Louie's Bookstore Café · Coney Island

E is for Expensive Charleston · The Black Olive · Milton Inn · Polo Grill · Chart House · Oregon Grille

F is for Frugal Pete's Grill · Trolley Stop · Fazzini's Italian Kitchen · jr. · Rallo's · Mamie's Café · Caribbean Food Carry Out · Silk Road Café · Frisco Burritos · Winterling's · Valley View Inn · Fresh

G is for Guilty Pleasures Anne's Dari-Creme · Howard's Delly · Maria D's · Johnny Rockets · Thrasher's · Steak Out Express · New System Bakery · Krispy Kreme

H is for Happy Hour The Brewer's Art · Mick O'Shea's · Brass Elephant · Speakeasy Saloon · Calvert House · Nick's Inner Harbor Seafood Co.

I is for Incendiary Sushi Café · Ko Hyang · Joung Kak · Thai Landing · Sisson's · Café Tattoo · Austin Grill

J is for Java Needful Things · The Hidden Bean · City Café · Donna's · Empire Café · Xando · The Daily Grind

K is for Kids Friendly Farm · Hacienda Mexican Restaurant · Fuddruckers · Overlea Diner · Funk's Democratic Coffee House and Bistro · Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon

L is for Lunch Women's Industrial Exchange · Sascha's Daily · Mughal Garden · Akbar · Bombay Grill · Nate's and Leon's · Snyder's Cafe and Deli

M is for Meat Prime Rib · Shula's Steakhouse · Ruth's Chris Steak House · Alonso's · The Crease · Bill Bateman's · Lenny's · Attman's · Boomerang Pub

N is for New School Joy America Café · Spike and Charlie's · Sotta Sopra · La Tavola · Opa! · Viccino Bistro · Café Pangea

O is for Old School Haussner's · Tio Pepe's · Ikaros · Acropolis · Bo Brooks · Forest Diner · Angelina's · Kawasaki · Thai Restaurant · Perring Place Restaurant · Sanders Corner · Sabatino's · Matthew's Pizzaria 

P is for Pub Grub Peter's Inn · Simon's Pub · Duda's · Sobo Café · Koco's Pub · Kisling's · McCabe's · Dougherty's Pub · Charles Village Pub

Q is for Quirks Holy Frijoles · Ye Olde Malt Shoppe/Earl's Beauty Inn · Tamber's Nifty Fifties Dining · Captain James Landing

R is for Romantic Corks · Pierpoint · Banjara · Ambassador Dining Room · Tersiguel's

S is for Seafood Gunning's Crab House · Gunning's Seafood Restaurant · Faidley's Seafood · Legal Sea Foods · John Steven Ltd. · Anne Arundel Seafood · G&M Restaurant · Mo's Fisherman's Exchange · Bill's Terrace Inn · Bay Caf

T is for Tourists Waterfront · Hollywood Diner · Café Hon · Obrycki's · Bertha's · Lista's · McCormick and Schmick's · Wharf Rat · Gallery Sandwich Shoppe · Hard Rock Café · Planet Hollywood · ESPN Zone

U is for United Nations Restaurant · Silk Road · Braznell's Caribbean Kitchen · Orchard Market and Café · Ze Mean Bean Café · Saigon · House of Kabob · Desert Café · Restaurante San Luis · Little Havana · Café

V is for Vegetarian Golden Temple · Liquid Earth · One World Café · Wild Mushroom · Puffins · Sin Carne · Village Market

W is for Worth the Drive Captain Billy's · Captain John's · Cantler's Riverside Inn · Gabler's · Baugher's Family Restaurant · Rudy's 2900 · Olney Ale House

X is for XXL New No Da Ji · The Yellow Bowl · Micah's Cafeteria · Cactus Willie's

Y is for Yeast Baltimore Brewing Company · Big Sky Bread Co. · Stone Mill Bakery · Ellicott Mills Brewing Company · Capitol City Brewing Co.

Z is for ZZZ Sip & Bite · Double T Diner · Valentino's · Star Light Diner · Bel-Loc Diner · Gampy's · Nam Kang

Posted 2/24/1999

Because dessert is all Vaccaro's (222 Albemarle St., [410] 685-4905) does, this bakery/gelateria does it better than most. There's nothing fancy about the offerings here, but from the 2-pound eclairs and flaky napoleons to the almond cookies and cannoli, each is a study in sweet perfection--and we haven't even started talking gelato, the real reason for braving Little Italy crowds to come here. But don't be fooled by the myth that gelato isn't as bad for you as ice cream because it's made with milk; this stuff is both rich--pistachio-packed pistachio and Baci (after the Italian hazelnut chocolate candy) are just two of the nearly 20 flavors offered--and the portions are monstrous.

The secret at Cheesecake Factory (Pratt Street Pavilion at Harborplace, [410] 234-3990) is to skip--or at least skimp on--dinner. From its gargantuan salads to the mammoth mounds of meat loaf and mashed potatoes, this restaurant is all about gluttony. Given that this is, after all the Cheesecake Factory, stuffing oneself and skipping the final course seems a tad unorthodox. Of course, this presents its own set of challenges, like choosing among the 37 varieties of cheesecake available and carving your way through a 4-inch slab of the stuff.

The secret of Adrian's Book Café (714 S. Broadway, [410] 732-1048) is sophisticated desserts in a refined setting. Classical music wafts through the rarefied air as you savor cheesecake or carrot cake or apple pie, surrounded by tomes of classical philosophy. Even plain coffee with friends takes on a new tone when it's on the second floor of this Fells Point shop. The whole experience leaves you feeling cultured, as if you just sat through a three-hour lecture on Kantian influences on The Mill on the Floss and actually enjoyed it.

If ice cream isn't the end-all and be-all of your existence, you don't deserve to go to Moxley's (25 W. Allegheny Ave., [410] 825-2544). This Towson ice-cream parlor offers sanctuary to connoisseurs whose tender sensibilities have been insulted by fat-free frozen yogurt, sugar-free sprinkles, and too many trends. Heaven is served by the scoopful here: Take your choice of two- or three-scoop sundaes, all with homemade ice cream, gooey toppings, and a walloping dollop of whipped cream.

Louie's Bookstore Café (518 N. Charles St., [410] 962-1224) seems busier at 10 p.m. than at any other time (unless it's Sunday, when the line for brunch snakes into the bookstore). The late-evening crowd swell might have something to do with Louie's rich and tempting desserts. Fruit pie is the true test of a restaurant's sweet tooth--any fool can make a passable dessert by loading on the chocolate and put the word "suicide" in the title. But it takes real skill to concoct a delicious berry pie, and Louie's passes the fruit-pie test with flying colors.

Baltimore boasts few pleasures as multifarious as lunching at Lexington Market, with its bewildering and beguiling array of options. We agonize over what to get: Barbecue or bulgogi? A gyro or a half-chicken? But when it comes to a Lexington dessert, we are steadfast and single-minded. We head directly to Coney Island ([410] 539-5754) for one of Baltimore's best milk shakes, a shiveringly thick sugar jolt that counteracts post-lunch loginess and sets us up for the rest of the day.

Related stories

Eat Feature archives

More Stories

Price Point (3/3/2010)
EAT: City Paper's annual dining guide

Central (3/3/2010)

Harbor Area (3/3/2010)

Comments powered by Disqus
Calendar
CP on Facebook
CP on Twitter