Marble Dessert Bar, a stylish new destination in the West Village, opened earlier this week with a strong international pedigree and a welcome emphasis on fun. The owners and chefs are Maya Sittisuntorn (born in Thailand) and Mauro Pompili (born in Argentina), who met while working at ChikaLicious (which they brought to China); they're now serving a fantastic, four-course dessert tasting menu, with optional beer and wine pairings, at Marble.
The menu at Marble changes often, with dishes coming and going based on what's available at the greenmarket and whatever Maya and Mauro feel like making that day, but you always get an amuse-bouche, a choice of a main dessert, a palate cleanser, and a trio of petit fours. The cost is $35, and booze is extra, but it lasts about an hour and based on a sample sweet feast I ate the other afternoon at a media preview, this is definitely worth it for special occasions.
The amuse we were served was a clever combination of yerba mate foam, pink grapefruit agar-agar, a refreshing granita and some almond crumble. And course three, the palate cleanser, was equally lively and satisfying, featuring the likes of mint gel, lime agar, a bright cucumber sorbet, and a remarkably intense watermelon granita. These both look beautiful, and the balance of ingredients is carefully thought out, but most importantly: it's all delicious.
There are five dishes in the "Main Desserts" section (you choose one with each tasting menu order), and my companion and I got to eat three. All of them were exciting and excellent, but the one featuring peaches, with yogurt panna cotta and cinnamon shortbread, was maybe my favorite. The strawberry dish was pretty great too, with a hit of yuzu cream, as was the only chocolate one, basically a pudding with a crumble below and a dollop of milk ice cream hidden in the center. The meal is topped off with a trio of tasty and adorable petit fours.
A selection of pastries you can pick up with coffee in the morning
Maya and Mauro bake every morning and sell pastries and assorted goodies during the day with coffee (the tasting menu kicks in at 4 p.m.)—from the Chocolate Chip Cookie and jumbo Alfajor to the Pistachio Croissant and the crazy-buttery coffee cakes, it's worth swinging by some morning or afternoon.
But no matter what time of day you're here, Marble Dessert Bar is a very elegant, very pleasant place to be. Fourteen stools run along a wide, curving marble bar, behind which the chefs compose their plates and make pleasantries with their guests. The music is bouncy, the scene relaxed, and the vibes good.
Marble Dessert Bar is located at 27 Bedford Street, just south of Downing Street. The dessert tasting menu is served on Wednesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; pastries and coffee start at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. on weekends. There's no tasting menu on Monday or Tuesday. (646-919-0879; mmarbledessertbar.com)
