Sweet Priorities

By Wendy Cole

Had enough of lean cuisine? Get ready to savor the dessert restaurant, which offers multi-course meals consisting of nothing but sweets. At Sugar, a swanky dessert bar in Chicago, a menu might include a palate-cleansing roasted-quince-in-cider soup ($6), followed by pomegranate gelatin with tangerine sorbet ($6) and Macdeth by Chocolate ($15). Boston's Finale does offer "pre-dessert" items, such as salads, but they're slipped onto the back of the menu so that diners can focus on delicacies like a Chocolate Indulgence tasting plate for two ($30). The sweet tooth has also migrated overseas. Espai Sucre (Sugar Space) in Barcelona heralds itself as Spain's first dessert restaurant. --By Wendy Cole