The Other Critics

Roth Compares Chocolate Lab and Tout Sweet; Miller Digs a Half Dozen Great Desserts

Yigit Pura's Fifth Element dessert at Tout Sweet.
Yigit Pura’s Fifth Element dessert at Tout Sweet. Photo: Andrei Riskin/Grub Street

Just in time for the holidays, both Anna Roth and Virginia Miller are on the sweet beat this week. Roth does a dual review of Recchiutti Confections’ recently opened Chocolate Lab in Dogpatch, and Yigit Pura’s more modernist Tout Sweet, on the third floor of Macy’s. Of Chocolate Lab she writes, “all [the] reclaimed California elm, local hand-blown glass, and custom tiles from Heath emblazoned with ferns [make it] like a Sunset magazine spread, but [it] has enough playful details … to show that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.” She loves their ice cream sundae and, from the savory menu, the goat cheese soufflé (“lighter and tangier than quiche, but no less satisfying”). At Tout Sweet she’s a little put off by the showiness of the place, and says Pura’s style “too often veers into preciousness.” However she likes the Tesla Tart and the Fifth Element petit gâteau, and writes, “Pura does have a genuine gift for concepts made into flavors.” [SF Weekly]

Miller also highlights a favorite item at Choclate Lab: the root beer float with Virgil’s root bear and chocolate malt ice cream, layered with Recchiuti chocolate sauce. She also loves the dense, creamy, soothing frozen custards made by Frozen Kuhsterd; all the ice creams and cupcakes at Delise at Fisherman’s Wharf; the Twinkie and Ding Dong variations at Pretty Please Bakeshop; and the candied bacon doughnuts with bourbon cheesecake filling at Baker & Banker. [SFBG]

Roth Compares Chocolate Lab and Tout Sweet; Miller Digs a Half Dozen Great