We have all experienced the let down when you have had an excellent meal, you want a little something to finish a fine evening and there it is, sitting in front of you the dessert menu, a creme' brulee, a dense chocolate something, perhaps a bread pudding or cheesecake, perhaps an ice cream.  Some like dinners offer pie or a couple of cakes.  The great thing about these mundane menus is they save you few calories, but it always makes a special occasion seem a little incomplete. 

I have found my new favorite place for desserts, oh it really is not that new, the Hinterland has been around for more than a year now.  The dessert selection has hovered around interesting, but it would occasionally slip back with others on what was on the menu.  I am not really sure how long Chef Ben Fairley has been at Hinterland at 222 E. Erie, but he sure earned the attention of our table Saturday night.  The things this artist does to Goat Cheese may be illegal in France and China.  First there was the delicate snow white pot stickers, except they were not steamed doughy lumps of rice pastry, but delicate pillows, with a delicate almost tempura style crunch. Biting down on one of these wonders caused an explosion of flavor in your mouth of Asian Pear and subtly sweetened goat cheese.  It was a perfect marriage.  Those little white clouds of confection were gentle glazed with honey and dressed with plump blueberries and delicate leaves of an herb whose name escapes me at the moment. 

Another in our party ordered an Apple Napoleon delicate layers of green apple and paper thin leaves of pastry accompanied by another surprise, yes Goat Cheese ice cream, 3 perfect medallions of yum! Another perfect match of the known Napoleon pastry with the unknown.  It was so good the diner actually asked for seconds. 

We have to return within the week to try the other offerings on the menu, only one seemed familiar.  Yes they had a cheese cake which another of our little group ordered.  It was a blue berry cheese cake, but it defied us when presented.  It visually resembled a blueberry mousse or bomb, not cheese cake with syrup of blueberry.  In fact it looked more like something out of Jetson's with a sharp rectangular shape.  The taste I managed to wrangle before it to vanished was sublime. 

My advise is for you and a few friends visit the Hinterland. The dinners are fantastic, but heck just do dessert or two or three.  Try it with a glass of Kings Estate 2006 Vin Glace' white wine from Oregon, absolutely a must with Asian Pear and Chevre' potstickers.