The Dessert That Should Have Been a Starter

There’s a certain type of dessert that makes you stop chewing and ask, why is this the last thing I’m eating? Goat cheese mousse. Black garlic ganache. Olive oil gelato. The flavors are sharp, savory, intellectual — and often leave you craving a real dessert. There’s nothing wrong with taking risks at the end of a meal. But lately, it’s become a kind of default move. The final course doesn’t whisper “treat,” it says clever. And too often, it ends the meal on a note that’s interesting but not satisfying. — Salt Where There Should Be Sugar Salted caramel made sense. But now we’re in deeper: fermented plum with seaweed crumble, frozen celeriac custard with brown butter dust. These aren’t bad dishes — in fact, they’re often technically impressive. But they’re not always desserts. They’re palate teasers, not closures. And here’s the thing: if you served some of these dishes as the first course, they’d be brilliant. A roasted beet sorbet with sheep’s milk yogurt? Fantastic start. But as a finish? It just tastes like the chef lost interest in pleasure. — When It Works There are, of course, exceptions. A savory note can pull a dessert back from cloying. A hit of umami can sharpen fruit. A fermented element can balance sweetness. The best versions aren’t afraid of sugar — they just know how to shape it. And sometimes, the weirdness is the pleasure. The surprise of balsamic in a strawberry granita. The earthiness of parsnip against honey. These are the dishes that walk the tightrope, not the ones that try to saw it off. — The Ask All we’re saying is: dessert doesn’t have to be safe, but it should feel like a reward. If the last bite makes you wish for a scoop of vanilla, something’s off. Give us a little joy. A little fun. Even a little sugar.