My Last Dessert Menu ~

I have sad news. I have been asked to leave the restaurant because their lack of business can no longer gamble on me and my desserts.

Time to move on and rearrange the recipe that makes up life.

    a pinch of this and a slap of that

Thank you for all your good words and well-wishing. Not every home is a house, not every key fits in a tightly designed hole.

I wanted to give you a glimpse into my last menu because I really liked some of the new plates. We'll see what they come up with after me-- my sous chef has been named pastry chef and the idea is that the chef will give her more specific direction of where to go so that her food matches his and the Southern Mediterranean. I gave it my all, yes I did, and that's what I'll remember.

Without further ado, my last dessert menu at a restaurant I helped build from scratch ~

pistachio gift
vanilla phyllo wrapped pistachio frangipane with mastic-rosewater ice cream
{ allow 20 minutes }
9

“open-faced sandwich”
tangerine sherbet, salted caramel pot de crème & crunchy almond cookie
9

cool milk chocolate cream
chocolate-almond salad & sour cherry marmalade
9

citrus!
mandarinquat marmalade, lebne cheesecake, moroccan almond “crust” & mandarin supremes
8

frozen honey mousse
spicy gingerbread, candied citrus peel, balsamic caramel & pomegranate seeds
8

warm chocolate
cocoa cake, sensuous chocolate, cardamon ice cream & shuna’s famous dark chocolate sauce
9

lemon essence
citrus soufflé, fennel shortbread, lemon sherbet & pinenut-date-anise-arbequina oil relish
9

Comments

[Lynn D.]

I'm so sorry...Portland?

[Roberto N.]

That's terrible, but it's also their loss. I'm sure you'll be able to find a new job soon enough. Godspeed!

BTW, I have a nagging baking question I mean to e-mail you soon...

[Max Airborne]

Oh Shuna, damn. You have given that place so much of your creative lifeblood! Sending you hugs and seeds of joy and further adventures.

[Raspil]

That seems like overkill...

"I have been asked to leave the restaurant because their lack of business can no longer gamble on me and my desserts" -- this seems fishy to me for some reason. it's not your fault they have no business and it seems strange that they would put it in such a way: "we'd have more business if you weren't making such outrageous desserts." I call BS.

Was compromise even an option or do they want to buy crap from The Cheesecake Factory like every other asshat restaurant in the country?

My sympathy... I'm sending it.

[C(h)ristine]

ACK! And I was about to visit and eat at Sens just because you are there.

[Danielle]

Oh, no! I'm so sorry to hear it. What a terrible loss for them. And I know you put so much of yourself into that place. Best of luck in your next endeavor, and I know you'll find another place to shine soon!

[jennywenny]

Oh no! I'm sorry, I hope you have better luck soon. It seemed terribly quiet when we were there and I really worried about that. You're a wonderful pastry chef and I'm glad I got to experience your wonderful desserts, and hope to try them in your next place.

[Anita]

I'm so glad I got to try most of these things, and sad that I won't be able to taste them again soon.

{sigh} it's like craving the perfect summer peach in winter, I suppose -- no sense wanting it when it's not going to happen (and all the more precious during the short time you can savor it).

Looking forward to it being Shuna-dessert season again soon...

Mmm, mastic ice cream.

[Betsy]

I'm so so sorry! I'm glad I got to taste some of them when I did, and I agree that it's their loss. I wish you the best of luck in finding a good match and a good home in the next place, and will travel to come taste your food.

[Paul]

I'm grateful I was able to taste your great desserts on Valentine's Day with my wife. Thank you.

-->Paul B.

[Christy]

Dearest Shuna,

as an ardent visitor to your blog, and a pastry cook in the making, i express my sympathy at the news. I know it is impossible not to take it personally, considering that you have put out everything you have--your heart, your soul, your talents--into creating a dessert menu you so passionately believe in.

However please remember this: it is completely their loss and not yours. If this is the way Sens chooses to go, perhaps it is not the place you want to be in anyway. Please have faith that something better is just around the corner, and I hope you feel better soon.

Christy.

[Diane]

Oh how sad! I had been planning to go there next month, mainly for your desserts. This is a blow, but your talents and spirit are prodigious, and I know you will find a place and outlet somewhere that will feed your soul. Best wishes for a smooth landing.

[tw]

yesterday was my birthday and i went to sens as i am a fan of your blog. my wife and i ordered and ate lightly from the savory menu so we could get three desserts.

thanks much for what you sent out to us...hope you find a new venue soon.

[Lourdes]

I'm so sorry this happened - I think it unfortunately spells trouble for the restaurant and from the article you linked to, it sounds like the location may be troublesome (doomed)? In any case, I'm sorry because there are some amazing people who won't get your desserts (although why they should when *I* can't, I don't know! :-) Hee!) and I know good things are in store for you... now if you'd only head north to Seattle.... :-)

[Rachelle]

Shuna,

I DID eat at the restaurant b/c of your desserts! The meal was good, but the desserts, oh the desserts. What can I say? I hope that, with this door closing, another one opens for you soon.

Any thoughts of teaching more classes??? I'd be there in a heartbeat.

[Dad & Ellen]

So glad to read so many supportive comments from so many people!! They are right: this is Sens' loss, and Shuna the Great is already going on to new triumphs!!

[Laurie Gauguin]

So sorry to hear your news. I really enjoyed your desserts when I went to Sens, as did many other people.

Luckily, talent and inspiration travel with you wherever you go - they're not linked to a venue.

Best wishes for your next journey.

[Mary Ellen]

Here's the "warm chocolate" I ate on 2/17:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mebertolini/2283744427/.
Are those people at Sens idiots? I would never have heard of them or gone there if not for you!

[Devin Glasser]

I have been a Sens customer twice, and both times was completely enchanted by your desserts. Not only by how amazingly delicious and creative they were, but by your beautiful descriptions -- which made passing on dessert just not an option. I wish you the best of luck wherever you go next - we will follow!

[heather]

Oh Shuna, crushed to hear the news and so loved your chronicles of the restaurant's nascent days...your excitement, energy, planning, organizing, exhorting, cajoling and curmudgeoning of your staff--and what you taught and what you learned--all of which you've shared so generously, so bravely with your readers.

I was listening to the Gary Jules song "Something Else" this am and thought of you. Beg of song lyrics (Apologies in advance for inadvertent cheeziness--sometimes that's a side-effect of being earnest):
They never tell you truth is subjective
They only tell you not to lie
They never tell you there's strength in vulnerability
They only tell you not to cry
But I've been living underground
Sleeping on the way
And finding something else to say
Is like walking on the freeway

Sending all best and look forward to reading of what's "now" and what's "next." --Heather

[Patricia Sweeney]

Your last dessert menu... simply magnificent. Exquisite. Reading it almost makes me weep at the contemplated pleasure.

Bon voyage, I say! Life takes unexpected turns.

[catherine ross]

Shuna,

How disappointing! But I know you will rebound and find a better fit for your talent. Onward!

[Julie]

Just a personal cry of disappointment that we did not get out to the Bay Area soon enough to taste your Sens creations, whose descriptions have been making my mouth water for months.

[Salvatore in Portland]

Shuna, you are tops! I don't comment here often enough, however I must tonight! You must not feel any loss at this. Aside from the irreplaceable friendships you have built in such a short time, you have been an inspiration to many including myself. The way you continually spotlight seasonal offerings from nature's bounty is pricelss and of the utmost importance. What is Mediterranean cuisine if not always responding to what Madre is giving? Your menus were spot on and though you won't be gracing Sens any longer, you are fighting the good fight! Salud!

[maggie]

What a drag. Here's hoping that someone soon recognizes what you have to offer.

[TBTAM]

Oh dear, This is such sad news. But with every change comes opportunity, and I expect this means that something even more wonderful is waiting around the corner for you.

I hope whatever that is happens very soon...

[radish]

Shuna, i am late to the news, but I am SO sorry about this -- were I in SF, I would have been there regularly to eat your dessert! I have, for so long, salivated over your creations. I hope that something wonderful comes up soon! Hang in there!! You are supremely talented!!