at Yonaka Modern Japanese
4983 W. Flamingo Road, 702-685-8358, yonakajapaneserestaurant.com
Yonaka is renowned for its dessert program. Its signature sweet, Chocolate Ten Ways, is something you’d expect from the kitchen of Sage or Le Cirque. Now, Yonaka’s new pastry chef Meg Oliver has created a new contender for the title of signature dessert: the wildly complex and playful Garden of Eden. It’s a cube of Oliver’s family-recipe spice cake, covered in a brandy-apple chocolate glaze, with a pretzel stem and matcha green tea “leaf” cookie. It also features whipped ricotta with cranberry curd, nestled in a delicate box of sesame brittle. The plate is dotted with Cointreau gelée cubes, chocolate balsamic Grenache, powdered ricotta and spiced streusel, and a cranberry caramel. Finally, there’s a cube of streusel gelato, with a matcha green tea-dusted Greek pastry called kataifi. At once delicate and rich, the Garden of Eden is a plate of heavenly delights.
