Andrew Carmellini’s The Dutch at the W South Beach has made it into this blog recently for being one of the top spots for beautiful people watching. And now it’s earned another prime spot for its desserts, thanks to the unpretentious Executive Pastry Chef, Joshua Gripper and his sous chef Jackie Marshall. Considering his haute pastry pedigree Chef Gripper has a lot to be pretentious about — Daniel Boulud restaurants in New York, Michelin two star restaurant Oustau de Baumanniere, Eleven Madison Park, and Gotham Steak in Miami.
The Dutch is about American comfort food and so are the desserts with a twist .Gripper brings to the table his talents and experience in the technique of French patisserie along with some Miami accents. He also uses less sugar than traditional as he believes this makes the flavors shine through.
Along with the baked goods there’s a selection of Great American cheeses from Vermont, New Hampshire and California (choice of 3 or 5) and of course ice cream and fruit sorbets. Baked goods are $12 and are also offered with suggested liqueur pairings.
Desserts are best viewed rather than described, so here are the images to drool over. They were all uniformly delicious and beautifully garnished and presented. The dessert menu changes seasonally so if these strike your fancy, don’t delay the visit. Late-night dessert cravings? Chef Gripper’s desserts are also served at WET bar & grill and Living Room in the W, as well as in the hotel’s room service. The dessert selections available vary but usually include ice cream and sorbet options as well as some of the seasonal pies.
Chocolate Souffle
Raspberry jam, mint chocolate chip ice cream
Strawberrry Almond Ice Cream Cake
Peach brulee orange tarragon sauce,
Garnished with fresh peaches and macaron chips
Milk Chocolate & Cherries
Lemon cream, vanilla sorbet,
Meringue flowers
Coconut Cream Pie (one of three selections)
Lychee and Fresno chili sauce,
Brown sugar cookie crust with pistachio
Churros & donuts
Dulce de Leche, guava sauce
(the churros deserve a special note. I’ve had many churros both here
and in their motherland, Spain, from the pencil slim to the thick cord like
variety and these were the best. The secret I asked the chef? Orange zest
and vanilla. Wish they served them at breakfast with some rich, dark hot chocolate!)
The Dutch at the W South Beach, 2200 Collins Avenue (T.305-938-3111).
Photography by William Oberheiser
3 Responses
I think I would skip dinner just to try all the desserts! Whenever I see churros I think about Spain, and I think it feels a little luxurious to have chocolate as part of breakfast.
These look delicious but I would love to know if they have any of these desserts or others on the happy hour menu!
That’s a good idea but to my knowledge no one has a dessert happy hour!