The Gist: http://www.cocosala.com/
The Why: I was walking back to my car en route from Elisir and I’d heard good things, the weather was warm and the sidewalk had seating – who needs more reason that that for coffee and dessert?
The setting and service: Loud as hell inside, calm but far too close to the cars and smokers outside, and service so incompetent that you have to repeat your order twice…and yet Rene still failed to serve me the 5-course dessert experience (includes a cheese plate and intermezzo.)
The food and drink: $6 Coffee, and $22 3-course dessert experience.
Latin American French Press – Described only as “Latin American” but apparently a blend by Ceremony this was a good two cups of coffee, the roast medium and smooth with a thick body and a bit of fig flavor with undertones of chocolate.
Churros with Dulce de Leche and Chocolate: A pair of hot cinnamon churros with a 75%/25% shot of molten caramel and chocolate this was served as an amuse bouche and with the donuts crisp on the exterior and soft within it would be hard to find any fault in it aside from, perhaps, the fact that there was far more of the sauce than necessary; a good problem easily remedied by a teaspoon to scoop out what was left.
A Sticky Situation: My selected dessert, a decision made after much debate, would prove to be an excellent one despite an obvious delay in delivery that had the ice cream half melted on arrival. Featuring piping hot sticky toffee pudding cake with a chocolate tuille and crème fraiche at one side and ginger caramel ice cream resting atop cocoa nib crumble on the other, both drizzled with brown butter toffee sauce this “cake and ice cream” plate was definitely sweet but avoided the being overly so through the use of the bitter chocolate and hefty ginger notes; an unexpected twist that worked beautifully. Never one to complain about something being too sweet and generally a fan of sticky toffee pudding I have to say that although non-traditional this was really quite impressive.
Raspberry Chocolate Lollipop and Lemon Chocolate Ganache: Two mignardises, the first quite pleasant and well balanced while the later simply did not fit my palate, I can’t say these plus the two churros justified the $10 upcharge versus ordering the Toffee Pudding a la carte…not at all, actually.
The Verdict: Confirming the rumors, Chef Tiptur’s take on traditional desserts ranging from France to England to Mexico and beyond is an interesting spot, but with the interior deafening and the outside sporting a bit more traffic than I’d prefer I can’t say I’d rush back – a sentiment I hold for the comparatively priced and overly loud Mindy’s Hot Chocolate in Chicago. Its good, but there is better dessert to be had with far less ‘scene’ and cost.