The Hummingbird Ice Cream Cone

I didn’t have enough room in my City Paper review of Delaney Oyster House to rave about their splendid dessert: the Hummingbird Ice Cream cone.

It’s an interesting and delightful way to wrap up a meal, and for several reasons. These days, a lot of restaurants lack the space or the budget for a full time pastry chef. (I’m assuming it’s more of a space thing with Delaney’s, since the kitchen there is really small.) Too often, restaurateurs make do by cobbling together a couple of really basic desserts that can be made in advance and plated quickly to order: little cakes and brownies, a lot of homemade ice cream or sorbet.

Delaney went in a different direction and outsourced dessert to local artisan ice cream makers Wich Cream:

It may not be a product of Delaney’s kitchen, but that cone fits perfectly into the restaurant’s whole feel. The presentation—arriving at the table in a little white paper sack stamped with the restaurant’s logo in pale blue ink—is casual but very stylish. And the intense, unexpected flavors are right in line with Chef Shamil Velazquez’s carefully crafted small plates.

It’s a twist on the Hummingbird Cake, rolling all the flavors of that classic Southern dessert into a frozen form. A crisp cone is filled with dense, rich ice cream that brims with pineapple, banana, and cinnamon. It’s capped with a crunchy dome of white chocolate, crushed pecans and spice. Altogether, it’s a novel fusion of high and low and presented with a consistent touch of style, and a simple dessert you don’t want to miss.