You probably saw an interview about Brian Campbell and his new brain child Sweet Cuisine Dessert Pop-up from us a while ago; and yes, another visit with the Dessert Pop-up at Clooney. Prior to that, we also got the privilege to attend another one of Brian Campbells’ Pop-ups at Orphans Kitchen. And this post is about that – since we’re all such sweet tooths. Forgive me if some of this might not be in as much detail – There is just so many components to remember.
The idea is simple – instead of spending a fortune opening up a restaurant and kitchen, why not hire commercial kitchens and run events out of there – after all, if you’re a dessert genius (like Brian is), all the sweet tooths (like us) are bound to come flocking to you.
From the first warm welcome, to being seated, there’s not much fuss and non-sense – since we all knew what we were here for. Dessert for dinner.
Fourth and last:
Guanaja, pink grapefruit, raspberry, and coconut. This is for all the chocolate lovers out there… pretty sure this could pass for a fruit salad too – with all the fruit as part of the components. What really won me over on this dish was more the texture than the taste; chocolate generally has quite a similar taste no matter how it’s presented (mildly sweet to bitter & dark) – but for this dish it wasn’t about a simple piece of chocolate, rather several types from a light mousse, to a dark fudge with the sourness and sweetness of the raspberry, coconut, & grapefruit to compensate. For me – would’ve loved more coconut on there.
Sweet Cuisine isn’t a restaurant per se, but our new favourite dessert menu? Definitely. The only hard part – they run events mostly on week nights, and if you get off work late or are quite far away; it can become quite a hassle. One good thing I am impressed by – The menu seems to go by the season, as you will notice from our recent excursion with Sweet Cuisine at Clooney as well.
First course:
Ivoire cream, passionfruit, and a dash of matcha green tea
Starting relatively simple to open up our appetite – cream was fresh but not heavy – not something you would rave over, but from the taste of things you knew something bigger and better was coming.
Second course:
Jivara, fig, Apple and bay leaf
This is where things started to get interesting and impressive – the amount of components, different tastes – especially using raw figs (I know so many people who dislike figs) – It wasn’t just the fruits of sourness vs sweetness; as you can see, handmade ice cream, where under that is a meringue – to go with that, you have short bread so nothing seems too over powering.
Third course:
Dulcey, blackcurrant, feijoa, and pear
My favourite (if I really had to choose). Why? Simply because there’s an ice block on the plate. Seriously. And with the caramel, black currant, feijoa, and also pear sorbet – to me it was probably the most exciting dish for the evening, mixing things up with the nuts so that nothing got too creamy and light. It was a very refreshing dish – was probably to get us ready for the last dish.
Fourth and last:
Guanaja, pink grapefruit, raspberry, and coconut. This is for all the chocolate lovers out there… pretty sure this could pass for a fruit salad too – with all the fruit as part of the components. What really won me over on this dish was more the texture than the taste; chocolate generally has quite a similar taste no matter how it’s presented (mildly sweet to bitter & dark) – but for this dish it wasn’t about a simple piece of chocolate, rather several types from a light mousse, to a dark fudge with the sourness and sweetness of the raspberry, coconut, & grapefruit to compensate. For me – would’ve loved more coconut on there.
Sweet Cuisine isn’t a restaurant per se, but our new favourite dessert menu? Definitely. Always stay on the look out for their next pop-up! There’s always something interesting about each one and they’re popping up at restaurants like Orphan’s Kitchen, Meredith’s and Ima Deli. One good thing I am impressed by – The menu seems to go by the season, as you will notice from our recent excursion with Sweet Cuisine at Clooney as well. Will definitely be looking forward to the next one.
