Dessert Sinsations Address: 505 St. Mary Avenue Phone: 204-284-4661 Web: www.dessertsinsations.com Neighbourhood: Downtown
With a dessert case stocked full of sky-high chocolate cakes, Shmoo tortes, creamy cheesecakes, cupcakes, ganache-dipped brownies, slices and cookies of all size and description, it's clear someone has a serious passion for pastry at Dessert Sinsations.
That someone is Chef/owner Barbara O'Hara, the creative mind behind the 17-year-old business.
But that's just the beginning inside Dessert Sinsations Cafe, the downtown eatery widely known for its seemingly endless menu of fabulous sweets for every mood, whim or occasion.
O'Hara is also all about the fabulous foods and flavours that lead up to dessert.
Her breakfast, lunch and dinner menu packs in customers everyday.
Stacked-high burgers, gourmet grilled cheese with local favourite Bothwell cheese and grilled Arctic char with triple citrus yuzu-butter sauce are just a few highlights. Her breakfast menu includes traditional favourites and some out-of-the-box brekkies including eggs poutine, a fries and eggs mash-up with hollandaise sauce. There are also many gluten-free and vegetarian dishes on the menu.
Above all, O'Hara prides herself on a diverse and delicious menu where everything is made from scratch.
"Our goal is to get you to try the most preservative-free, most natural food," she says.
She is also very concerned about sustainable eating, an increasingly popular movement among foodies; to eat and prepare locally-grown or raised foods; support local farmers and producers; and choose foods that are grown, raised or produced in ways that are less harmful to the environment.
"Our goal is to get you to try the most preservative-free, most natural food," she says.
O'Hara is always expanding her culinary repertoire and gets even more creative with her menu. New seasons bring new dishes and ingredients for experimentation.
She loves introducing her customers to different ingredients and unexpected flavours. To that end, during Dine-About Winnipeg (which ended Feb. 12), O'Hara offered three ethnic menus, inspired by Cree, German and New Orlean's style cuisine.
By late-February, she will also launch a revamped lunch and dinner menu that will include at least one, back-by-customer-demand favourite. (Don't worry folks, lobster poutine isn't going anywhere.)
And for those with a demanding sweet tooth, you'll always have the dessert case and its myriad delights.
