Our Favorite Fall Desserts
We may be well past ice cream season, but there’s a lot to love about autumn-inspired desserts. Heady, aromatic spices and syrups, juicy fruits and even buttery gourds and squash lend themselves beautifully to all manner of homey, comforting sweets, from the Apple and Concord Grape Crostata at Andrew Carmellini’s Locanda Verde, to the Pumpkin Curd Doughnuts at The Cleveland, the Pear Mascarpone Sundae (who said you can’t still enjoy ice cream come fall?) at Marco Canora’s Hearth.
White Street
Floyd Cardoz may be the big name at White Street, but we’ve got our eye on Alexander Zecena; the brand new restaurant’s young and talented pastry chef. His truly unique line-up of desserts currently includes Quince Two Ways, accompanied by cider gastrique and black walnut butter, Plums paired with prune and Earl Grey compote, and rich Hazelnut Praline, plated with a garnet-colored sorbet made from our favorite seasonal fruit – Concord grapes.
Read MoreThe Cleveland
Desserts are generally an afterthought at restaurants without a dedicated pastry professional, but new executive chef, Max Sussman (formerly of Roberta’s), ably executes a trio of noteworthy sweets. This autumn, look for dense, drunken hunks of Apple Whiskey Cake, pale, silky wedges of Buttermilk Pie, drizzled in a sticky blueberry-sage syrup, and airy Doughnuts scented with lavender, filled with pumpkin curd, and delivered alongside a dreamy maple walnut gelato.
Read MoreRotisserie Georgette
Cool weather marks the triumphant return of Rotisserie Georgette’s signature dessert; the rustic but utterly elegant Tarte Tatin for Two. Concentric circles of meaty, creamy apples are embedded in a flaky, barely-there pastry crust, shellacked with deeply caramelized, almost-burnt sugar syrup, and finished with silky dollops of not-too-sweet crème fraiche, scooped tableside from a silver pail. You won’t get closer to Paris than Georgette’s gorgeous version of this classic.
Read MoreLocanda Verde
Locanda Verde is well known for its pastry program, originally overseen by the celebrated Karen DeMasco, and now spearheaded by her former sous chef, Kieran Baldwin. You really can’t go wrong with any of the new, resolutely seasonal menu additions, including Apple and Concord Grape Crostata, glazed with cider caramel and strewn with rosemary hazelnut brittle, a Chocolate-Sourdough Tortino, served with spiced fudge, toasted walnuts and poached pear, and a Maple Semifreddo, intriguingly paired with cantaloupe, nectarine and candied prosciutto pecans.
Read MoreBattersby
The year-old Dover may have stolen some of Battersby’s thunder, but Walker Stern and Joe Ogrodnek’s original Cobble Hill favorite is still well worth a visit. Follow fall-centric savory dishes, such as Sweet Potato Mezzaluna with kale and pepitas, with equally autumnal desserts, including Pumpkin Pie with ginger, maple and chili, Saffron Rice Pudding with honeycomb, and gooey Cheese Turnovers, flavored with pomegranate and black sesame.
Read MoreHearth
The name alone conjures images of being cuddled up by a fire, sipping on cider and hot chocolate, and supping on roasted meats and savory stews. So you know pastry chef Nancy Chan is adept at integrating fall ingredients into her scrumptious sweets, from classic Apple Cider Donuts with apple compote and Apple-Ginger Crisp with almonds, to Buttermilk Panna Cotta with red wine-fig sorbet, and even a gooey Pear Mascarpone Sundae; pear sorbet layered with maple caramel and candied pecans.
Read MoreRiver Café
Happy days are here again for River Café, Brooklyn’s fine dining institution, which finally recovered from extensive damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy, and went on to recoup its Michelin star. To celebrate, they’re serving their infamous Brooklyn Bridge dessert, impressively molded out of milk chocolate, crisp meringue and vanilla ice cream, as well as a number of seasonal sweets, including Apple Crisp with caramelized apples, warm almond cake, and green apple and ginger sorbets.
Read MoreCharlie Bird
Forget about butter: Italian restaurants simply couldn’t operate without stockpiles of great olive oil. And that’s certainly the case at the chic SoHo hotspot, Charlie Bird, where the emerald nectar finds its way into practically everything, from perfectly al dente pastas to garlicky broccoli rabe. In fact, it’s even been incorporated into two, new fall desserts; a seriously moist Winesap Apple Olive Oil Cake, strewn with salty oat crumble, and a warm and velvety Chocolate Budino, paired with olive oil gelato and caramelized rice krispies.
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