Show-stopping Sweets Take Center “Stage”

Stage Restaurant in the Honolulu Design Center has a grand finale of desserts to choose from, and each dessert will not only please your palate, but your eyes as well.

The Brown Butter Banana Tart ($9) is a melting pot of textures with an amaretto streusel topped with maple-glazed pecans.

“I really like to pair bananas and also vanilla bean (creme anglaise), which is the sauce,” says pastry chef Cainan Sabey.

Sabey also puts his own spin on the well-known peanut butter cup with Stage’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ($9).

“I use maltodextrin, a starch, to turn peanut butter into a powder (peanut butter sesame powder), and the bottom is panna cotta with organic milk chocolate,” he explains.

And it’s not just chocolate that highlights this dish. Sabey also includes a sweet strawberry banana sorbet and acai-mixed berry coulis, and sticking out of this delightful dish are pieces of crunch caramel milk chocolate tuile.

Stage’s most popular dessert, the Very Decadent Cake ($10), is just that. Decadence is the highlight of this dish — and it’s perfect for all chocolate lovers.

“The ice cream on this dish is a butter popcorn ice cream, and the bottom is Nutella powder with salted caramel sauce (fleur de sel caramel),” Sabey says. “The Very Decadent Cake is similar to eating a truffle. It’s really rich, but to me, if I do something with dark chocolate, I just go all out.”

While the dark chocolate maintains its iconic rich flavor, the texture is light. Sabey pairs this dish with comet-like pieces of dark chocolate, which add to the aesthetics of the dish.

Other desserts on the menu also include the Lilikoi Creamsicle ($10), Warm Pineapple Crisp ($9), Vietnamese Style Coffee Flan ($9) and Ginger Spiced Carrot Cake ($9).

Stop in for delicious food, excellent drinks and stay for the desserts.

Stage Restaurant

1250 Kapiolani Blvd., Honolulu
237-5429
Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Happy Hour: Monday-Friday, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Dinner: Monday-Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
Wine bar: Monday-Saturday, 5-11 p.m.