Sorbet with sparkling wine at ChikaLicious.   (Photo: Courtesy of ChikaLicious)

ChikaLicious (View Menu)
203 E. 10th St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-995-9511
The specialty at this ingeniously realized niche restaurant is dessert, and dessert only. Co-owner Chika Tillman and her assistants whip up creations like sorbet floating in sparkling wine and wheels of fromage blanc “cheesecake” on shaved ice.

DessertTruck Works (View Menu)
6 Clinton St., nr. E. Houston St.; no phone
Le Cirque pastry alum Jerome Chang dispenses exquisitely composed desserts from a retrofitted postal truck, and this brick-and-mortar location that won't slip into the night at the sight of a traffic cop.

Kyotofu (View Menu)
705 Ninth Ave., nr. 48th St.; 212-974-6012
Eastern-leaning desserts have a dainty, delicate quality—a femininity, you might say—which makes the place a magnet most nights for dainty, delicate females and chirpy, dessert-nibbling aesthetes of the opposite sex.

Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar (View Menu)
207 Second Ave., nr. 13th St.; 212-254-3500
Pastry chef Christina Tosi preys on our appetites for creamy, salty, and buttery satisfaction with slabs of layer cake (dulce de leche), pies like dumbbells (crack, Cinnamon bun) , odd cookies (cornflake, compost); and soft-serve flavors in rotating themes.

Spot Dessert Bar
13 St. Marks Pl., nr. Fourth Ave.; 212-677-5670
Prominent Vietnamese pastry chef Pichet Ong keeps things interesting by offering exotically flavored puddings, cupcakes, and cookies, plus combos like a miso ice-cream sandwich.