By Karen Hudes, ZAGAT.com staff editor
A Voce's boozed-up baba
photo: Karen Hudes
There's nothing like having a dessert and a drink to cap off the night, and if you can roll them into one sumptuous treat, all the better. We took a hop around town to discover the best confections with a buzz.
Malt Shop Liquor
The newest burger joints are adding a grown-up kick to their thick milkshakes. At Stand near Union Square, customers suck down a multicolored array of fountain drinks ranging from shortcake-y strawberry ice cream with vanilla vodka to an elevated reincarnation of the Shamrock Shake – light green with fresh mint and a hit of bourbon.
A few blocks west at Laurent Tourondel's BLT Burger, old-fashioned glasses, complete with fat straws and syrup all around the sides, deliver a serious shot of hooch. While the Night Rider – chocolate ice cream, Oreos and Kahlua – makes a tempting combo, it's Grandma's Treat – a caramel-drizzled vanilla shake spiked with Maker's Mark – that really packs a punch.
And when you're in the mood for some Fox's U-Bet the way Gram never had (or maybe she did?), head downtown to Schiller's for a liquored-up egg cream.
Shakes with a shot at BLT Burger
photo: Karen Hudes
Sugar in Your Cup
Tipping the balance, the East Village's new Back Forty mixes a little dessert with its alcohol in the form of a float made with a pint of malty, slightly sour Irish stout topped by a scoop of vanilla. As sweets go, the ice cream does more for the beer than the beer does for the ice cream, so it's best reserved for brew aficionados in the mood for a twist. Offering even more immediate imbibing, Chocolat Michel Cluizel at ABC Carpet does away with the glass altogether, serving shots of liqueur in petite dark chocolate cups as well as in the pre-filled, ID-required bonbons – a serious challenger to those 85-percent cocoa bars. And at Park Avenue Winter, pecan biscotti can be dipped into a steamy mug of cider with hot buttered rum, nutmeg and cinnamon
Wombat's tipsy trifle
photo: Karen Hudes
Drink Like a Sponge
In the European school of alcohol-drenched desserts, A Voce, bolstered by new pasty chef Joshua Gripper, leads the pack with its baba Napoletano, a cream-filled, brioche-like cake brightened by a citrus salad and served with a glass of aged rum to pour over it yourself. Fluffy, aromatic and hands-on, it's a knockout combo. (Watch out for old-school purveyors like Veniero's that only use rum syrup in their baba.) Meanwhile, at Williamsburg's Aussie restaurant Wombat, the kitchen whips up a wallop of a Brit-style trifle, layered with whipped cream, custard, currant jelly and sponge cake soaked in Harvey's Bristol Cream. So why shouldn't a woman – especially one who remembers its retro ads – invite a man out for a sexy nightcap like that?