Andersonville Dessert Crawl
Peter Sachs |
Ranalli's chocolate-chip cheesecake with vanilla bean pistachio gelato.
Not everyone has the gumption to train for a marathon, let alone get up really early on a Sunday for it. Good thing the couch-prone can participate in another marathon of sorts: the Andersonville Dessert Crawl. Eaters had the option of two crawls that each comprised a dozen restaurants' desserts. Decider opted for the seemingly superior “Swedish Stroll,” which stopped by most of Andersonville's Swedish haunts, as well as a few non-Swedish delights like Pasticceria Natalina.
The crawl began ambitiously with the dense, rich brownie bites at Ann Sather that didn't bode well for making it through all 12 spots. Thankfully, the restaurants serving samples stretched far down North Clark Street: Strolling between restaurants alleviated the feeling of stuffing your face full of desserts. Adding to the challenge, though, was the 80-degree heat that had many groups of people lingering in the shade of buildings between restaurants, fold-out maps in hand. Lightweights. Decider muscled through, though, keeping a steady pace and not feeling too full at the end.
The Coffee Studio stole the show with its uber chocolatey, espresso-laden mocha mousses served with chocolate biscotti. Everyone seemed to know the offerings here would be good: Crawlers idled near the register as the staff prepared the small servings, which people scooped off a tray just as quickly.
Also high up on the list was Ranalli’s chocolate-chip cheesecake with vanilla bean and pistachio gelato. Balsamic maraschino cherries topped the cake, an unexpectedly pleasant, acidic touch. Even though the gelato came out of a tub, it was creamy and rich, just as it should be. Painted Light, a photography and framing store, also deserves applause—it served rum punch to those who made the walk a few blocks out of the way. Andies Mediterranean Restaurant served an unconventional, not-too-sweet pistachio pudding with a texture like tapioca, an underwhelming (in a good way) follow-up the Ann Sather brownie.
But then there’s Pasticceria Natalina. It was listed as one of the participating restaurants on the crawl, and the bakery’s beautiful smorgasbord of hand-crafted desserts was a serious draw. They’re supposedly amazing, and a reason to pay the $25 for a ticket alone. But we wouldn’t know about how good they tasted: The store handed out only coupons for a discount on party cakes. People were pissed. In fact, that was a good bit of the buzz at other restaurants while waiting in line for food. Coupons! The nerve! Had Pasticceria Natalina been dishing out some actual dessert, the $25 cost might have been worth it. But considering that two of the stops served similar baklava recipes, the price was a bit high.
In the end, though, Decider left with a full and happy belly. As a couple of women at Reza’s put it, it’s only morsels, but when there are so many morsels, it’s stuffing yourself.
