A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Last week I had the opportunity to meet Deuxave‘s new pastry chef, Shaun Velez. When I asked how it all started he said that he was on track to go to college and get a degree in science, but when he go there, he realized that college just wasn’t for him. From the very moment that he told his grandmother that he wanted to go to culinary school, she was against it, after all, her husband was a line cook when they first came to the states. Shaun did go to culinary school, the French Culinary Institute to be more precise.  It was there that he fell in love with pastry. After graduation in 2008, he honed his craft at restaurants including Café Boulud, Boulud Sud, Bar Boulud and the James Beard Award winner DANIEL.

Velez has redone the entire dessert menu at Deuxave. Pictured above is the meyer lemon vacherin with meyer lemon sorbet, black pepper, chantilly, red currant glee and matcha paper ($13). This dessert is a work of art – let’s talk about the impossibly thin matcha paper, made in house, like everything else. The flavor is subtle and works well with the dessert. The whipped cream is something that dreams are made of – it’s just perfect. Fresh currants make the dessert pop! I love all the flavors and the textures in this dessert. When I asked Chef Velez how he comes up with new desserts he said that he just pictures a dessert in his head – he picks a flavor and finds something that will pair well with it, and a third ingredient that might go well with the first ingredient (ie. if apples and lemons go together and apples and almonds go together, then lemons and almonds should pair well together).

As a general rule, I never get the creme brûlée. I find it to be boring and uninspiring. Not so at Deuxave, Chef Velez totally changed my perception of the dessert, and we aren’t talking changing plain creme brûlée to pumpkin creme brûlée. This is made with hazelnut mirliton, passion fruit diplomat and hazelnut place ($13). I literally ate this whole dish (sorry Leah!) in 3 seconds it was that good.The passion fruit seeds are the little orange spots on the dish, paired with a few citrus greens. Chef Velez confits the inner rind of the passion fruit and adds it to the dish. Chef Velez said that he likes to take classing French baking and find a way to make it more modern and exciting – I’d say he has certainly accomplished that!

The desserts on this menu are all so very different, but all works of art and all delicious with their own flavors. I love the sugar work on the blood orange tart ($14) made with sesame custard, blood orange gel and thyme glace. This was probably the most savory dessert of the bunch with the sesame flavor having a strong role in the dessert (even the sugar has sesame seeds).

Generally restaurants don’t have to try too hard with their chocolate desserts because by nature, they are the most popular. The cafe epice ($15) is an exception to that statement. Made with chocolate dacquoise, spiced coffee mousse, cocoa rocks and orange blossom ice cream, this dessert really knocks it out of the park – and look at how beautiful it is plated! The orange blossom is subtle and fragrant and you couldn’t find a better pairing for flavors. The dish also has cardamom cremu which adds a little spice to the dish. Any of these desserts can be paired with an after dinner drink, just as the sommelier or one of your servers for suggestions.

Last, but certainly not least, the Baba au Calvados ($12) made with a ginger biscuit, orange cream and a quince glaze. The babas are drizzled table side with the sauce that they are soaked in. The dessert is is light and delicious – a subtle pink peppercorn flavor in the glace and the ginger biscuit makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Again, the sugar work on this is impressive – Chef Velez said that he gets his inspiration from architecture and jewelry shops.

If you are planning on proposing (Valentine’s Day is just around the corner kids), check out Chef Velez’s off the menu dessert, a sugar sphere that can hold your ring. The dessert takes about an hour to make, so please give the restaurant plenty of time if you’d like to surprise that special someone with one!

Disclaimer: I was invited to sample the desserts at Deuxave, which were provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

Deuxave

371 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA

http://deuxave.com

Tags: back bay, dessert, fine dining, restaurant