Sweet Spot: Nicōsi Earns a Star With a Dessert-Only Tasting Menu

"A boundary-blurring, dessert-only tasting room tucked in the back of Pullman Market in San Antonio’s Pearl, this MICHELIN-Star recipient serves an eight-course menu that applies pastry techniques to dinnertime flavors arranged around acid, umami, bitter, and, at the end, sweet. One standout riffs on ramen: caramelized Texas sweet onions and a powder made from scallion greens crown a base of jammy eggs, then a hit of blackened garlic; the green onions are transformed into a spongecake crumble and the overcooked garlic, with hints of chocolate and coconut, is churned into an ice cream. Expect alliums creamed, seaweed freeze dried, and beef gelatinized, with the team using the intimate room as a proving ground for high-concept pastry (they even document R&D like giving melon the texture of tuna sashimi). Photos are prohibited and little is revealed ahead of time, focusing attention in the moment and letting the chefs play with expectations until, as they like to say, most guests get converted." - David Shortell