Diane Yang, La Belle Vie (Minneapolis)
Designed to showcase a world-class chocolate product, this dessert is built from stacked geometric forms that play with temperature, texture, and “pop” culture references. When her assistant walked into work with a cherry soda, Chef Yang was inspired to use cola as a light, sweet, and refreshing accent to a dark chocolate and cherry combination. After successfully reducing dried cherries in cola, she experimented with using the classic American beverage in a sorbet before settling on a slightly creamy sherbet. The chilled mound of sherbet is balanced by warm chocolate soufflés dusted with cocoa nibs and powdered sugar, while the surprisingly soft block of chocolate ganache is accented by crisp wands of cherry meringue. The dessert is topped with chocolate spirals, created by swirling tempered chocolate into ice water.
