Emphasis on desserts is ‘worth the sugar’

Jen Kelly said most restaurants do a good job with desserts. She just wanted better.

“More variety, where attention is given to the dessert, how it is plated,” she said. “Something on par with the amazing dinner you just had where you go, ‘That was really good.’ ”

So in April she opened a sweet breakfast and dessert-heavy operation, The Dessertery, at 5428 Roberts St. in Shawnee.

It offers dine-in or carryout desserts that are “worth the sugar,” she said.

The menu includes such items as blackberry wine cake, a fruit tart (with whipped orange cheesecake covered with a variety of fruit on a bed of lime curd surrounded by lavender foam), Champagne cake, coconut cake (with layers of coconut custard and meringue frosting on a bed of lime curd), carrot cake, berries and crema chantilly, Top-Hat Cheese Cake, French beignet with sipping chocolate, and White Chocolate Euphoria (flourless white chocolate cake, white chocolate ganache and a selection of sauces).

Its Chess Cake has been a breakout dessert, with one couple telling her they made plans to stop by the Dessertery for their chess cake fix while dining at an upscale restaurant.

“Sometimes you are out and not ready to go home yet and just want to stop for dessert and coffee. Or you have dinner and you want that to settle a bit before you have dessert,” Kelly said.

This month the Dessertery will have two specials: a pairing of an Earl Grey-infused cake and Lady Grey-infused cake with a blackberry lavender ice cream, and a strawberry lemonade shortcake.

In July it will serve grilled peaches with brown sugar bourbon ice cream and toasted meringue, and red velvet cake. It also will offer fruit pies July 1-3 only for the Fourth of July holiday.

“You have to have something chocolate on the menu, and carrot cake, they seek it out. But I also spend my time thinking about the next amazing thing we are going to put together,” Kelly said.

Breakfast items include chocolate waffles and Pan Perdue (Brioche French toast with orange cream cheese, fresh fruit, brown butter syrup and a side of sausage).

Casey Sullivan, formerly of Pizzabella and 1924 Main, has been working at restaurants in Chicago, New York and Austin. He returned to Kansas City and is consulting with The Dessertery with plans to open his own restaurant in about a year.

He will be offering sandwich specials during lunch Wednesdays and Saturdays starting June 22. First up is a Jibarito (fried plantain as the ‘bread’ filled with grilled steak, garlic mayo and avocado).

“I’m stealing it from Puerto Ricans in Chicago who have this amazing sandwich. What my eventual restaurant is going to be is to gather the best of the best,” Sullivan said.

Dessertery hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Monday.

New Overland Park Westlake

Westlake Ace Hardware has signed a lease for a 15,500-square-foot location in Stanley Station, 7821 W. 151st St., Overland Park. Dobbels True Value currently operates in the space but will move out on July 29. Lenexa-based Westlake plans to remodel the store for a fall opening. The company will then have 20 stores in the area.

Dobbels is currently having a retirement/liquidation sale with prices from 20 to 75 percent off.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Emphasis on desserts is ‘worth the sugar’."