ChikaLicious

The specialty at this popular, ingeniously realized niche restaurant is dessert and dessert only. It bills itself as “New York’s first” dessert bar. Most of the action takes place behind the bar, where the pastry chef and co-owner Chika Tillman and her assistants whip up their creations — sorbet floating in sparkling wine, melting wheels of fromage blanc “cheesecake” on great blocks of ice — with the diligent intensity of world-class sushi chefs. On weekend nights, the line can snake out the door and down the block.