Sweet of the Week: Black and White Crème Brûlée at Bistronomic

Crème brûlée is something I sometimes wind up with, not something I usually order willingly. It's the type of standard dessert I expect to get at banquets or receptions, with standard vanilla custard lazily torched with sugar on top. Maybe there's a cliched berry garnish. It's all so predictable. But if there's one chef I'd trust in delivering a novel take on this timeworn dessert, it's Martial Noguier of Bistronomic. With years of experience cooking in the contemporary French sphere, he's long since proven his mettle at reimagining French-accented classics. And few things personify classic French sweets quite like crème brûlée. 

 

Bistronomic's crème brûlée borrows inspiration from that beloved Jewish deli dessert, the black & white cookie. Or so it seems. The black and white crème brûlée benefits not only from its strikingly unique appearance, but from its contrast in chocolate v. vanilla. The two pivotal dessert flavors are working in smooth tandem here, with a vanilla bean custard base offset by a bittersweet chocolate mousse. It's like the iconic swirl soft-serve ice cream, with both chocolate and vanilla in perfect harmony. The vanilla custard has a pudding-like richness to it, striated with a rich layer of mousse, a nice capper that serves to go that extra step to ensure this crème brûlée is far beyond the norm. It's all crowned with a patina of Turbinado sugar, a nice crackly choice for a crème brûlée crust, as it caramelizes beautifully when torched and lends a delicate crunch with each bite. 

- Matt Kirouac