Typically that title could (and should) be applied to me. But in this instance, Jill was definitely the dessert monster. It was like nothing I had ever seen. And really I hope not to see again anytime soon (because then I don't get the leftovers).
Jill just posted yesterday about this Greek dessert (Galaktoboureko) we had at Evvia the other day that was really good. I think we both liked the fact that it was different. It was really good, but this one is definitely better.
We had dinner at Zin in Healdsburg and I mentioned beforehand that the dessert is generally good there. Of course, so is the ravioli – every time we've been there the ravioli is simply amazing. But let's get back to dessert.
Jill ordered the peanut butter and chocolate mousse cake with zinfandel grape jelly ice cream. I don't even remember what I ordered because of what follows but my dessert was very good. As I ordered my dessert, I decided to get one glass of Late Harvest Zin from Bella to share between us. The dessert wine arrived first so I took a tiny sip and pronounced it "liquid grape jelly". Very nice stuff.
Jill's dessert was huge. Normally I eyeball what she gets and guess how much I'll get when she is "done" and offers the remainder over to me. This big dessert I figured was 4-5 decent bites at a minimum. I dug into her cake and got a mouthful of peanut butter mousse, chocolate mousse & icing, chocolate cake, and just a little grape jelly ice cream. My words: "oh, you're going to like that!"
Jill takes a bite and she looks to be in heaven. And then she takes a sip of the liquid jelly accompaniment and she is definitely going crazy. I enjoyed my dessert but in the process she consumed almost all of hers and I was missing out on my leftovers. I took one more bite of the PB&J dessert and a sip of the dessert wine. This pairing was nothing short of perfect. They were made for each other. The only thing weird is that the server didn't mention it and it wasn't suggested on the menu as you'll see at some restaurants. I think they're missing out on an opportunity there.
Well, Jill finished the whole thing so all I got was that initial bite before she started and that stolen bite as I noticed it all diminishing before my eyes. So for someone like me who loves sweet sugary dessert, you can tell that I'd be happy if the leftovers from Jill continue and we don't see such a great dessert again anytime soon.
For those of you who know Jill's friend Bonnie in New York, you may have heard about her dessert experience at Tra Vigne in Napa years ago. Well, this seems to be on par with that.