diner cake heads north

Beloved Houston bakery and cafe rises with new Woodlands location

One of Houston’s favorite sweet shops is coming to The Woodlands. Dessert Gallery has claimed a prime spot in The Woodlands Waterway for its second location.

Located in a former Nestle Toll House Cafe at 25 Waterway Ave., the new Dessert Gallery is expected to open in late summer or early fall. Owner Sara Brook tells CultureMap that she’s had her eye on The Woodlands for a couple years and is pleased to have found a location that’s close to the Marriott hotel, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and Cinemark movie theater.

“I’d love to say it was something very scientific. Really, it just feels like the right place at the right time,” she says.

“A lot of our corporate customers are popping up out there. I had occasion to visit and do some work at the Exxon campus. I was blown away by everything that’s happening. I wanted to be part of it.”

For almost 30 years, Dessert Gallery has been serving nostalgia-inspired cookies, cakes, and other sweets to Houstonians from its location on Kirby Drive. While previous satellite locations in Sugar Land and the Galleria area have closed, Brook says the time is right to grow. Dessert Gallery’s business increased in the last couple of years, fueled by people turning to sweets for comfort and the convenience of third-party delivery apps.

“We were one of the lucky ones. For once, we were in the right place at the right time with the right software,” Brook says. “Everybody was hungry and drowning their sorrows in chocolate. The delivery companies came on big. We were ready for all of it.”

At only 1,100 square feet, the new Woodlands location won’t have quite the same inventory as the larger Kirby store, but it will be stocked with fan favorites like the Chocolate Chunk cookies, Apple Brown Betty, and the Old-Fashioned Diner Cake. It will also offer a limited amount of both indoor and outdoor seating.

“For almost 30 years, people have been driving in from all over to come to Dessert Gallery. I think our Woodlands and Spring clientele are going to be super excited to find us in their backyard,” Brook says.

Dessert Gallery joins a growing movement of Houston-based restaurants and bars that have opened or are coming to the northern suburb, including Bosscat Kitchen, Kirby Ice House, and Niko Niko’s.

Courtesy of Dessert Gallery

Sara Brook is the founder of Dessert Gallery.

truffle masters recap

Street corn shines at Houston's truffle-powered chef competition

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.

One of Houston’s top Mexican restaurants took the top prize at this year’s Truffle Masters competition. Victoria Elizondo, chef-owner of Cochinita & Co., bested 24 other Houston chefs with Elotitos, corn brushed with chiltepin aioli, dusted with seven chile spice, and finished with shaved truffles and Parmesan.

“The team killed it last night,” Elizondo wrote on Instagram. “We won 1st place at @thetrufflemasters all while having fun and cooking with love! Food doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to be made with corazón!”

The attention couldn’t have come at a better time. As CultureMap reported last month, Cochinita & Co. is currently in the process of opening a second location in Lindale Park. Customers can invest in the project via the NuMarket platform in exchange for credits at the restaurant.

Second prize went to Camaraderie in the Heights for its black sesame and black truffle gelato, while Cocody, a French restaurant in River Oaks, took third place for its truffle-shaped Lollys Persillade Escargot Cromesquis, essentially an escargot lollypop with with black truffle and quail egg in the middle.

Montrose sushi restaurant Soto won People’s Choice with its Engawa fin muscle with truffle balsamic unagi sauce, kizami, and chocolate black truffle masago arare. Aniket Bhingare, a bartender at Michelin-starred restaurant Musaafer, won the cocktail competition with his Pour Me a Slice, made with truffle and herb-infused and a clarified mix of roma tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, basil, and truffle oil.

Other standout dishes included a Yukon Gold potato with truffle brown butter from Michelin-recognized sushi restaurant Hidden Omakase, truffle s’mores from Israeli-inspired steakhouse Doris Metropolitan, beef tartare and truffle ice cream from fine dining sushi restaurant Katami, and Credence’s truffle duck sausage with plums and truffles. Maximo, a Mexican restaurant in West U., maximized (sorry) its truffle usage with a Cachetada de Barbacoa Taco, made with nixtamalized truffle tortilla, truffle-braised barbacoa, and sottocenere al tartufo cheese with black garlic-habanero salsa

More than 350 attended the sold-out affair, which took place at the Astorian events space in Sawyer Yards. The judging panel include both media members (such as this author) and hospitality pros. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the KNOWAutism Foundation.

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.