Say cheese-cake: classic dessert still keeps them smiling

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 29, 1997 by Jack Hayes

If cheesecake were not a mainstream American after-dinner tradition, then Calabrasas Hills, Calif.-based Cheesecake Factory probably would not have been able to build a coast-to-coast chain of high-grossing casual restaurants on the popular cheesecake theme.

Menuing -- and brazenly displaying -- 35 varieties of the venerable dessert, the 19-unit Cheesecake Factory not only keeps its recipes a secret but even has trademarked its second-best-selling signature product: the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake.

Research from the National Restaurant Association validates the passion for cheesecake among the dining-out public. In its 1992 Tableservice Operator Survey, cheesecake won higher marks for popularity than all other types of dessert at restaurants where the average per-person dinner check was at least $15.

Although the NRA hasn't updated the dessert popularity survey, it found in its 1997 Tableservice Restaurant Trends report that customers are buying between 30 percent and 42 percent more desert in those same restaurants -- much of that increase presumed to be cheesecake.

"It's still the number-one restaurant dessert in the country," says Debbie Littmann, spokeswoman for Chicago-based Eli's, The Place for Steak, an institution that serves 500 slices of cheesecake a day in its dining room alone -- not to mention the minimum of 10,000 mail order cheesecakes sold from its brand-new 62,000-square-foot bakery.

"Not only is it the most popular, but cheesecake is also the most versatile dessert," adds Kevin Rosen, third-generation family partner at Junior's in Brooklyn, N.Y., an establishment that moves 5,000 cheesecakes a week to restaurant guests -- and at least 2,000 more each week via overnight delivery across the United States.

Part of cheesecake's versatility, however, is that it isn't just for the "sweet" side of the palate.

Stu Stein, executive chef at The Oval Room in Washington, D.C. does a variety of savory cheesecakes, including one that blends crab and ricotta in a tart cream cheese cake.

"On the table it looks something like a frittata with crust," says Stein, who meanwhile; is serving a white chocolate cheesecake dessert crusted in a bittersweet ganache and served with caramel-bluerry sauce.

"We whip the cream cheese batter vigorously, adding a little ricotta, and then bake it at 300 degrees for two hours," says Stein, who formerly cooked at Cafe Allegro in Kansas City and was also chef de cusine under Jean Banchet at Riviera in Atlanta.

Stein's signature at Cafe Allegro was an apple cheesecake using a brown sugar nut crumb base with apples folded into the cheese batter and caramelized apples on top.

While chocolate itself continues to be a powerful dessert ingredient, Stein feels his Oval Room cheesecake sells because the white chocolate gives customers an added perception of lightness.

"Maybe they're imagining fewer calories," he says.

Josine Martin-Hussey, chef-instructor and nutritionist a the Art Institute of Atlanta Culinary School, does a savory cheesecake combining pesto with her egg-and-cheese base, topping it with chopped pine nuts and serving a healthy portion with crackers of flatbread for lunch.

"Sometimes I'll combined bean sprouts, sauteed mushrooms and onions to create an authentic lacto-ovo-vegetarian dish," Josine-Hussey says. "Put a good wedge on your plate along with a nice salad and you've got a complete meal."

Validating Kevin Rosen's claim about cheesecake's versatility, Josine-Hussey likes to create ice-cream-scoop-sized cheesecake "globes" -- rolling them in chopped nuts and serving with brandied tropical fruits and drizzled chocolate or caramel.

Another of her favorites is a four-layer molded dessert made from rings of white and chocolate genoise, gelatin-based pineapple coulis and standard cheesecake.

Josine-Hussey stacks her layers in a 2-inch pipe mold, first moistening the genoise with a rich syrup. When the mold is colled, she dresses it with kiwi or raspberry sauce.

Nick Morfogen, executive chef at Maxaluna in Boca Raton, Fla., has been attempting lighter presentations of the traditionally heavy cheesecake dessert.

While cooking at Le Bernardin 10 years ago, he recalls being introduced to "individual" cheesecakes, prepared in round 6-inch ramekins.

"They turned me on," recalls Morfogen, who later created a flourless version of the same dessert for "the health-conscious crowd" at Ajax Tavern in Aspen. Colo. "Those big dinner cheesecakes were always a bit too much for me anyway," he adds.

Morforgen also has done a variation of chocolate-marble and remembers one of his best winter cheesecakes having a poached-pear flavor.

Like all of Morfogen's earlier ones, his new vanilla peach cheesecakes at Maxaluna are made in individual ramekins. "I'm using a basic batter," says Morfogen, who has times varied his cheesecake texture with mascarpone.

The cheese variations -- ricotta, pureed cottage, mascarpone and others -- create an interesting combined cheesecake flavor, yet the main distinction is textural, according to the chefs.