Photo: Hazelnut polvorón with milk chocolate and passion fruit by Albert Adrià © José “Piru” Rivera
‘No, I don’t eat dessert.’ Although not yet widespread, this expression is becoming commonplace in many restaurants around the world. It is true that it does not currently affect signature cuisine establishments, which offer a complete experience in which dessert (or desserts) is an integral part of the rest of the menu. However, it is already a reality in other, less distinguished establishments.
This phenomenon is often attributed to current consumer trends, which promote the reduction of sugar and fat in the diet. There is also the absurd theory of compensation practiced by some diners, which consists of foregoing dessert to ease their conscience and atone for the guilt they feel for having eaten (too much) up to that point. But, without denying the above, it is no less true that the dessert offering is often uninspiring, neglected, and disconnected from the rest of the dishes, or even prepared outside the restaurant itself. It also doesn’t help that it is difficult to find good restaurant pastry chefs who know how to contribute to the overall offering and don’t end up as lone wolves among chefs.
‘You have to avoid a break at the end of a tasting menu in which you are telling a story,’ says Albert Adrià in so good.. magazine 35. Indeed, dessert is the star of the last scene, but within the same movie. And what doesn’t seem logical in any case is to standardize dessert, devalue it, disconnect it from the rest of the plot, or present it directly as optional, that is, dispensable. Because in any other field, no one would approve of a story with a bland, confusing, borrowed, or characterless ending.
