The Resy Guide to Incredible Desserts in New York

Where would Gage & Tollner be without their desserts and the impeccable coif of award-winning pastry chef Caroline Schiff? Many have waxed on about her showstopping baked Alaska for two, in which a lightly torched meringue hides no less than three layers of homemade ice cream (fresh mint, dark chocolate, and Amarena cherry). But don’t let this signature overshadow her other creations — a blueberry chèvre cheesecake and a seasonal sundae are just as mighty.

In New York’s ongoing modern Asian restaurant renaissance (from all the Hand Hospitality openings to the debuts of Wenwen and Bonnie’s), this elegant restaurant may be one of the most underrated and exciting of all. At 53, the menu reimagines everything from dim sum to sweets, where pastry chef Lily Hu brilliantly dreams up desserts “with an Asian angle.” Highlights include the mango pudding with pomelo, a matcha ganache with cardamom-milk espuma, a Nama chocolate tart so good it’ll convert chocolate-haters, and a Napoleon with a semifreddo made of gula melaka, an unrefined sugar found all over Southeast Asia.

Is it a hot take to say we’d be perfectly content sitting at the bar at Torrisi, eating just desserts only with a glass or two of Amaro? The glitzy revival of Major Food Group’s Italian American favorite more than stuns in the sweets department — think an affogato layered in hot fudge that reads like a Dairy Queen sundae taken to the next level (childhood nostalgia included), frozen yogurt with the texture of smooth cream that you’ll scoop out of a grapefruit, one perfect almond cheesecake, and complimentary Italian ice delivered with your check at the end of it all.

Chances are you’ve stumbled on the most Instagrammable dessert of 2017: a half slice of what seems to be avocado on a bed of salt. Or was it Empellón’s other trompe-l’oeil dessert, the faux taco? Regardless, chef-owner Alex Stupak’s desserts program still runs whimsical and wild at his Mexican-inspired flagship (the man was a pastry chef at mind-bending restaurants wd~50 and Alinea, after all) and you’ll still find his two signature desserts (the avocado parfait and corn ice cream taco) on the menu, along with a special dessert of the month.

See also: Mischa, Stupak’s recently opened new American restaurant, where longtime Empellón pastry chef Justin Binnie flexes his pastry prowess in the shape of an incredible sticky bun pie with caramelized apples, a sesame éclair with banana cream, and a gravity-defying buckwheat honey cake.

Designing the final note of a tasting menu is no small feat — and as a fine-dining restaurant offering both an omnivore and a vegan menu, The Musket Room really doesn’t simplify things. Luckily for everyone, James Beard-nominated pastry chef Camari Mick oversees it all, delivering an exquisite and (in the Michelin guide’s words) thought-provoking end note for each menu. The good news for you is that both the vegan and non- desserts are always offered à la carte, alongside a seasonal ice cream tasting, which you should obviously also order.

When Patricia Howard and Ed Szymanski opened their (much-bigger-than-Dame) Fergus Henderson-inspired English bistro, they also brought along a whole suite of classic British desserts. As such, you’re bound to find seasonal interpretations of trifle, the majestically named queen of puddings, Victoria sponge cake, a chocolate and coffee fool, with Szymanski showing off his ice cream-making skills to round things out.

The mille-feuille might just steal the show at The Noortwyck — that’s how impressive rising star pastry star Ileene Cho’s desserts are. But the true sleeper hit on the dessert menu? It’s the mascarpone rice pudding, which also happens to be one of the lightest, creamiest rice puddings you’ll ever taste. Cho trained under Cédric Grolet while he was still at Le Meurice, and her impeccable French-leaning technique shows both toward the end of the menu, which changes often (the mille-feuille renews with the seasons, for example) — as well as at the very beginning of your meal. Do not, we repeat, do not sleep on the seeded Parker House rolls or the char siu duck milk bun; you won’t regret an order of both.

Yes, we’ve written extensively about Williamsburg’s addition to the French brasserie genre (as a destination for group-worthy celebrations, its breakfast, and roast chicken, among others), and no, we’re definitely not sorry to add yet another excellent reason why you should visit Le Croc’: its standout dessert program, headed by the sticky banana date pudding, a dessert so perfectly decadent we don’t care how many frites you’ve had, you cannot not order. A+ renditions of lemon tart, profiteroles, and more are on there, too.

See also: The desserts at sister restaurant Chez Ma Tante — what can we say? Chef-owners Jake Leiber and Aidan O’Neal know how to end a meal. And while we’re in the realm of French desserts, we should note that the rotating cast of sweet things at Frenchette and La Mercerie should never be skipped, either.

All hail legendary pastry queen Claudia Fleming, who returned to Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group fold after delighting sweet tooths at Gramercy Tavern in the ‘90s with her very own (and much-copied since) brand of elevated yet simple desserts. Now serving as the executive culinary director for Union Square Hospitality Group’s Daily Provisions brand, her delicious comeback made its big debut in Ci Siamo’s simple sweet comforts: a chocolate budino with espresso zabaglione, sugar-dusted bombolini dipped in chocolate amaro, and a perfect lemon torta, a bestseller on the menu.

Don’t even pretend you’re not here for one decadent night — if you scored a Resy at 4 Charles, you better make it count! But here’s our plea to absolutely save room for dessert, steaks aside: the illustrated menu is a feast for more than the eyes, and hops from a DIY sundae royale that’ll make you feel like a kid in a candy store, to deeply satisfying chocolate cream and lemon meringue pies.

See also: If a Resy at 4 Charles still feels impossible (here’s your daily reminder that the Notify feature does indeed work!), rest assured that the illustrated menu of sweets at Hogsalt sister restaurant, Monkey Bar, offers all the above, and more.

Because when chef Markus Glocker opened this opulent, Gilded Age-esque, Vienna-inspired French restaurant, he couldn’t not have the desserts to match. Enter pastry chef Emiko Chisholm (ex-Augustine and Balthazar), who properly dazzles with a menu of tortes and strudels, a soufflé for two, duck egg crème brûlée, and an intricate palatschinken that some say resembles a head of garlic (not in taste, though we’d be here for it).

And because it was too hard not to include the following, please see our shoutouts to these signature desserts, all of which are so integral to a meal at their respective restaurants it’d be weird if you didn’t order them …

• The fried tangyuan with ice cream at Wenwen 
• The corn husk meringue at Cosme 
• The sticky toffee pudding at Dame 
• The sticky toffee pudding for two at Crown Shy
• The yellow cake at Bar Bête
• The sweet potato pie at Sylvia’s
• The tiramisu at LaRina Pastificio & Vino
• The tiramisu at I Sodi
• Tony’s tiramisu (do we have a thing for tiramisu?! Maybe!) at Cafe Spaghetti
• The cut fruit plate at Bonnie’s
• The knafeh at Tanoreen
• The faux deli bagel at C as in Charlie
• The devil’s food cake at Claud (you better book that 5 p.m. Resy if you want to secure a slice)
• The saffron ice cream sandwich at Eyval
• The torta al pistacchio at Barbuto
• The Thai tea tres leches cake at Golden Diner
• The banana coconut bread pudding at Raoul’s
• The olive oil cake at L’Artusi
• The bodega special at Tatiana, by Kwame Onwuachi
• The chocolate cake at Estela 
• The fudgy chocolate cake at Rolo’s
• The Chinese fried dough at Tuome
• The bhapa doi at Masalawala & Sons
• The lemon cake at Greywind
• The fior di latte gelato that’s made-to-order at Lodi
• The seasonal choux au craquelin at Place des Fêtes
• The soba panna cotta at Tonchin Brooklyn
• Grandpa Lusk’s cheesecake at da Toscano
• The Tik Tok-famous (and absolutely not overhyped) seasonal parfait at Momoya Soho
• The baba au rhum at Le Rock
• The chocolate sorbet at Roman’s
• The profiteroles at La Mercerie
• The pandan custard at Wayan
• The cherries jubilee flambéed tableside at The Grill
• The mint chocolate crunch bonbons at Principe
• The gelato at Misi and Lilia
• And if you see the sheet cake on the menu at Yellow Rose, you know what to do.

(And because this list was getting too ridiculously long, here’s a collection of places where you just shouldn’t skip dessert and an ice cream guide. You’re welcome.)

Noëmie Carrant is Resy’s senior writer. Follow her on Instagram. Follow Resy on Instagram and Twitter, too.