Extraordinary Desserts-Little Italy
American Fare

When I heard that Extraordinary Desserts opened a second location-this time in Little Italy, I was thrilled. With Eastern religious paraphernalia like buddhist statues and symbolic clay pots that line the walls inside the warehouse infrastructure and soothing sounds of harpsichord playing throughout the restaurant, I felt like I was walking into a zen place of worship. Although much different than the gathering place of Extraordinary Desserts in Banker's Hill, the change of decor was refreshing. A very tangible difference that sets this Little Italy location apart from that of Banker's Hill is the menu offerings. Here, along with elaborate desserts, the menu includes exotic panninis, a variety of cheeses, and an assortment of fine wines. It was a simple lunch for John and me Sunday: an order of imported italian tuna pannini with gruyere, garlic aioli, and truffle tapenade for myself and a turkey pannini with smoked mozzarella, cranberry mayonnaise, and butter leaf lettuce for John.

Expecting a fresh piece of ahi tuna steak between grilled slices of bread, imagine my surprise when a plate of tuna from a can was placed on the table. My heart absolutely sank. This restaurant is charging me almost $15 for a sandwich I can easily make at home from Chicken of the Sea ingredients? I have to commend the gruyere went perfectly between the pieces of bread and arugula, but the tuna was too much of a disappointment to overlook.

The turkey pannini was also very mediocre. Nice touch with the butter leaf lettuce and cranberries, but again, for the price of $10, I expected much more. Although the plate presentations were beautiful, the dining environment is one of sophistication and refinement, and despite my immense respect for this location's attempts to introduce light eats, I was expecting much more for the upscale prices.