Los Angeles Dessert Tour: First Stop, Sweet Hart Sweets June 27, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in dessert tour, ice cream, information, sweet eats.Tags: los angeles bakery, los angeles candy shop, los angeles desserts, melissa joan hart candy shop, melissa joan hart shop, sweet hart sweets
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Sorry everyone, I haven’t really been floating around the blogosphere since I’ve been catching up over here. But I have been working hard on my new project for Dessert Obsessed:
I have decided to do a Dessert Tour of Los Angeles, since my Dessert Tour of New York City was so popular! This tour will definitely take more time and each review will be more detailed, as I actually live in L.A. and have more time to spend at each place, instead of cramming six dessert restaurants into each (of my four) days and trying to sample as many sweets as possible without feeling like I was commiting Cavity Suicide in NYC.
My first stop on my Los Angeles Dessert Tour is Sweet Hart Sweets. I actually found this place while sitting at a traffic light. I was sitting in traffic (this is the annoying part of doing a Dessert Tour in L.A. – you have to deal with traffic everywhere you go), and impatiently waiting for the light to change, when I noticed a sign across the street that boldly declared “the second happiest place on earth!”. Underneath the sign were some of my favorite words: “desserts”, “gelato”, “yogurt” and “candy”. Of course, I absolutely HAD to go! The second happiest place on earth right across the street from me?! It was fate! After finding parking (there is a small parking lot in the back of the store but I didn’t notice so I parked on the street), I made it to “the second happiest place on earth” to find that it was actually a sweets shop, by the name of Sweet Hart Sweets.
The first thing I noticed about Sweet Hart Sweets was the decor. Very, very, VERY cute, and all purple and white. Vintage inspired chairs and walls, but very modern tables. The tables were my favorite; they’re clear but embedded with candy and glitter. So fun! The best part is the giant table and giant chairs in the back of the store which are fun to take pictures with.
Sweet Harts Sweets has a wall of fat free frozen yogurts in various flavors (from peanut butter to raspberry), and a selection of toppings (fruit, chocolate, etc), all yogurtland – style. There is also glass case hosting gelato, which also comes in a variety of flavors (tiramisu to spumoni), and a second glass case boasting cupcakes and cakes. Cookie jars along the counter sport nicely sized cookies. The majority of the wall of the store is dedicated to candy. They have all sorts of candy there, but nothing I haven’t seen before. Hello Kitty candy, Disneyland-esque lollipops, your usual grocery store candy, the usual movie theatre candy, some imported candy, and candy from your (well, my) childhood (Now and Laters and Poprocks!).
All in all, I wasn’t impressed by Sweet Hart Sweets. It was way too mediocre for a sweets shop in Los Angeles. L.A. has too many amazing dessert spots, and its hard to compete. If you want to go to a real candy store, visit It Sugar (to be reviewed as part of the LA Dessert Tour soon!), or Dylan’s Candy Bar. Sweet Hart Sweets has a fraction of the candy offered at It Sugar or Dylan’s Candy Bar. Sweet Hart Sweets also does private parties, like Dylan’s, but I have no idea what those are like. Furthermore, I was actually disappointed by the frozen yogurt and gelato. Both were extremely watery, and I have no idea why. Not melty, the way it should be, watery. Probably the worst gelato I’ve ever had, as the watery texture just made it weird. Also, the worst frozen yogurt I’ve ever had. The taste is artificial, as well as the weird watery texture. Yogurtland (another stop to be reviewed on the Dessert Tour!) is defintely the place to go for fro-yo. Also, the cashier girl charged me for a gelato when I actually got frozen yogurt! (there is a difference: yogurt is 38 cents/oz. while gelato is 75 cents/oz.) And I left so I wasn’t even able to tell her she had it wrong and get my money back! I didn’t try any of the baked goods, but I have a feeling they won’t be amazing. I asked the kids working there if they were baked in the store, and they told me that all the baked goods were baked off-location and brought over in the morning
But the worst part about Sweet Hart Sweets was not the sweets; it was the service. I don’t know if I just went on a bad day or what, but the service was very bad. There were three workers (all kids) that day. One was the manager, but she doesn’t do anything. She spent the majority of her time in the back, and was not available to answer questions or listen to complaints. Arielle, the girl working (the one who overcharged me; do avoid her if you visit) at the time, was extremely rude and unhelpful. She rolled her eyes when customers asked for samples, didn’t know the answers to any questions, and complained when customers took photos, never smiled, and spent her work shift examing her fingernails. On the other hand, Ivan, the boy working with Arielle, was extremely nice and helpful. He gave out heaping samples to every customer, and actually offered samples to everyone who walked through the door. He also answered questions as much as he could, and was very polite. But only 1 good employee out of 3? Not good enough for me.
So why did I include Sweet Hart Sweets on my Los Angeles Dessert Tour? After I got home, I googled the store and found that it is actually the brainchild of Melissa Joan Hart, of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame! Sabrina was quite popular during her time, so there are probably a lot of people out there who would like to visit Melissa’s sweets shop, so I thought it was worthy of a review as part of my LA Dessert Tour. Oh, and the interior makes for really cute photos!
Essentially, Sweet Hart Sweets tried to cram Dylan’s Candy Bar, Yogurtland, Sprinkles, and gelato all into one place… and kind of failed. The second happiest place on earth? Nice try, Melissa. I definitely have some suggestions for the business model of this place, but that’s another blog post for another blog.
Health Bars for Dessert! June 17, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in bars, sweet eats.Tags: clif bars, gnu fiber bars, gnu fiber chocolate brownie, healthy dessert, lara bars, luna bars
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Everyone is looking for healthier dessert options these days, even me! I’ve been taste-testing “healthy” bars with dessert names recently. I’ve had everything from Clif Bars (carrot cake is the only flavor I like but I wouldn’t call it dessert), Luna Bars (i like the iced lemon bars but I wouldn’t call them dessert either), Larabars (all flavors are delicious, and I would definitely consider them a “snack-ey” dessert), and Gnu Fiber Bars. Gnu Fiber Bars are probably my favorite health bars out of the four mentioned. All of the flavors taste pretty good, they give you 50% of your daily fiber needs, and they’re not ridiculously sweet like Fiber One bars! Gnu Bars are all-natural and naturally sweetened!
The Chocolate Brownie Bars are amazing. They actually taste like a brownie! They definitely have a much stronger and deeper chocolate flavor than the chocolate bars from Clif, Luna, and Lara. The soft chewy texture also reminded me of actual brownies. Definitely crunchier than a real brownie, but as close as a “health” bar can get. The Banana Nut Bars are also pretty good. I could taste the fruit juice sweetner in the other flavors, but they were still tasty. But the Chocolate Brownie Bars are definitely good enough to eat for dessert!
YAY Free Food Time! June 2, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in information, sweet eats.Tags: free donuts, free food, free food in june, free friendly's, free ice-cream, free krispy kreme, free sonic
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Upcoming free food!
6/3 – Free Float at Sonic’s
6/3 – Free Iced Coffee at Au Bon Pain
6/5 – Free Donuts at Krispy Kreme
6/6 – Free Ice-Cream at Friendly’s
First week of June – free Chick-fil-A everyday (locations in Orange County, CA)
Enjoy!
One Life Goal Fulfilled: Hello Kitty Sweets May 27, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in cake, information, sweet eats.Tags: cute restaurants, edible hello kitty, hello kitty, hello kitty cake, hello kitty chocolate, hello kitty dessert, hello kitty gourmet, hello kitty meal, hello kitty mmorpg, hello kitty online, hello kitty pasta, hello kitty roller rescue, hello kitty sweets, hello kitty taipei, hello kitty taiwan, hello kitty themed restaurant, hello kitty video game, momoberry, sanrio restaurant, taipei restaurants
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One of the things that the readers of this blog do not know about me is that I am a Huge Hello Kitty Fanatic. I can’t believe I have managed to blog for this long and not mention my Hello Kitty obsession! Hello Kitty is not just an adorable character to me, she is a friend and source of inspiration (do I sound crazy? I hope not). I wrote my college admissions essay on Hello Kitty (she got me into UCLA and every other school I applied to), wrote two term papers in college about Hello Kitty, flew across the country to get my hands on a Hello Kitty Tokidoki, obsessively play Hello Kitty Online (if you’re into gaming, I recommend Hello Kitty Roller Rescue; its superfun), collect everything Hello Kitty; I will buy and overpay for ANYthing with Hello Kitty on it, my bedroom looks like a 4-year-old lives in it… yea, you get the idea. I love Hello Kitty!
And so, ever since it opened its doors January 2008, it has been one of my life goals to go to Hello Kitty Sweets, the official Hello Kitty themed restaurant and bakery in Taipei, Taiwan. I believe this is the only official Hello Kitty themed restaurant in the world! A fantasyland of Hello Kitty AND dessert?! My idea of heaven! And lucky me, I was able to go and now I get to share the fantasy with you!
fantasy decor
Hello Kitty Sweets is AmazinG, even for non-Hello Kitty aficionados. The décor is pure fantasy, and the food has all been “Hello Kitty-ized”, and everything is so adorable you’re afraid to eat it and destroy the fantasy. The entire building is pink, and done up with ribbon trimmings and sparkling chandeliers. The walls are quilted (think faux-Chanel), and even the staff are part of the fantasy, with cute pink aprons and kitty ears. Everything is fit for a princess!
Hello Kitty Puff Pastry
The food is extremely fusion, but very tasty. Everything on the menu is a set meal, aside from the cakes and pastries available in the bakery. We had a baked rice dish with cheese (Taiwanese attempt at risotto), and rice and seafood puff pastry in the shape of Hello Kitty’s head. Each entrée comes with a side of potato salad, an appetizer of sweet corn chowder, and a drink of your choice (we had the mint frappacino and the kiwi smoothie). Every entrée is gorgeously plated with a pretty salad and hello kitty designs made by condiments and spices. Each meal also finishes with a tiny piece of cake and fruit. The dessert was probably my least favorite, as it was light fluffy asian cake that looked like chocolate, but tasted more like vanilla. But the entrees and sides were all delicious!
Hello Kitty "risotto"
kiwi smoothie
The Menu is another source of fun at Hello Kitty Sweets. It comes in the form of a giant book, with full page color photos of Kitty in various outfits and settings, as well as pictures of every entrée and pretty desserts. Everything has detailed complete description so you can make an informed choice. One of my favorite parts of Hello Kitty Sweets is the window where you can watch the bakers making Hello Kitty desserts. All of the desserts are either Hello Kitty shaped, or have impressions of Hello Kitty somewhere, and are just completely Hello Kitty-ed out!
the making of Hello Kitty sweets
Momoberry-esque Dessert Kitty
Hello Kitty Sweets also has its own line of specific Hello Kitty Sweets merchandise. The Hello Kitty Sweets Kitty has eyelashes (somewhat like the Momoberry Kitty), wears stripes, and is always seen holding a cappuccino or slice of cake. Supercute!
If you plan on going to Hello Kitty Sweets, make sure you plan ahead! It is always crowded and there are always multiple groups celebrating their birthdays/baby showers/etc there. The place is usually packed, so make reservations if you can! Also, I was amazed by the amount of men at a Hello Kitty restaurant! There were a lot of couples, husbands and wives, but also bigger parties with quite a few teenage boys. I even saw one party of 10 where 9 women were celebrating the only male at the table’s birthday (I felt kind of embarrassed for him; they brought out a giant Hello Kitty cake with candles and everyone sang to him).
Hello Kitty seating
But everyone is happy at Hello Kitty Sweets! How can you not be, when surrounded by so much happiness, yumminess, sparkliness, prettiness, and sugar?!
hello kitty dessert
If you are lucky enough to visit, the address is: 90, Da-an Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市大安路一段90號)
And I’ve been getting questions on how to subscribe to my blog; if you would like to subscribe by email go here. Or add www.dessertobsessed.wordpress.com to your RSS feed!
If you like reading about other sweet eats, check out my Dessert Tour of New York City!
All About Ice Cream – and Ice Cream Makers April 6, 2009
Posted by Dorothy in ice cream, information, sweet eats.Tags: caramel cone, chocolate, haagen dazs, ice cream, lemonade, peanut butter, summer, sundresses, waffle cone
9 comments
I am so loving the recent summer weather in Southern California! Wonderful sunny lazy days that make me want to pull on a sundress, squeeze lemonade, and eat ice-cream! Ice-cream is definitely one of my all-time favorite foods. I even enjoy it during the coldest of winter! Right now my current obsession is Deep Chocolate Peanut Butter from Haagen-Dazs in a gigantic waffle cone – sooooo peanut buttery and goooooood! The Caramel Cone from Haagen-Dazs is a close second favorite.
Eating Haagen-Dazs in Asia
Summer is always my favorite season, and I usually spend my summer eating ice-cream throughout Asia. Eating ice-cream is superfun in Asia because its extremely humid (you need to eat at least two ice-cream cones each day just to survive!), and ice-cream is so accessible and available everywhere on every street. Its so cheap and there are soooooo many flavors available. But I won’t be spending this summer in Asia (sadness!), so I think I need to start churning out my own ice-cream!
I’ve been looking at ice-cream makers, and trying to decide which one I should invest in, in preparation for the summer! I found this very useful guide, which I wanted to share with all of you!
One of the simple pleasures many of us enjoy is a scoop of our absolute favorite flavor of ice cream when we crave it the most. Whether we’re spending the day in the hot sun on the beach or are getting ready to curl up and watch a movie, a side of ice cream always seems to hit the spot. Part of the reason why ice cream is so wonderful is how convenient it is to obtain whether it’s in the store or at the park, but a great way to keep a stash of your favorite custom flavors is by simply making your own batch! By adding an ice cream maker to your cookware and dinnerware collection, you can control the ingredients you put into your personal flavor and take pride in the amazing ice cream creations that can be shared with your whole family.
If you’re looking for a versatile tool to add to your kitchen, many Cuisinart models are capable of making a variety of frozen drinks and desserts in just 20-30 minutes in a push of a button. The durable stainless steel construction includes a double insulated freezer bowl and automatic mixing paddles that give you the creamy and delicious texture you’re craving in your next helping of ice cream or frozen yogurt. Electric models are fast, reliable, and can be taken wherever your guests reside for drink or dessert refills. Many models come equipped with an ingredients spout that allows you to easily add in the components you want for your dessert. Next, simply turn the machine on and wait while your delectable mixture develops before your eyes!
For a more traditional approach to making ice cream, consider a White Mountain ice cream maker that offers both electric and manual models. The old-fashioned hand crank makers come with a cast iron frame and wooden bucket for your ice cream making needs. Be sure that you or your friends are prepared to churn out the mixture for 30-45 minutes depending how many hands you have to help out. After going through this process you can certainly take credit for all of the hard work put into churning your own batch of ice cream for your friends and family. If old-fashioned is your thing, be sure to make room for these manual makers as these four and six quart buckets can take up a lot of room in your kitchen.
