Life

This Futuristic Dessert Shop Lets You Use An iPad To Pick From Thousands Of Combos

by Isami McCowan

A brand new San Diego based sweet-treat shop plans to bring technology and food together in the coolest way possible. Using their innovative iPad station, the up-and-coming business iDessert lets customers use technology to customize their dessert, making a unique crêpe, sundae, milkshake, and other creations to their hearts' desires.

The design process is streamlined and simple (although choosing from so many mouth-watering ingredients is surprisingly hard): for a dessert, you get to choose from 16 different handcrafted meringues (or one of their chocolate shells) for your crust base, pick from one of their house-made gelato or sorbet flavors (made with real cream and local Californian milk), and add a delicious, naturally flavored cream to top it off. If you're still craving more, you can opt to add fruit, some crunch (in the form of Butterfingers, Oreos, caramelized hazelnuts, and other treats) or a layer of cake to your masterpiece.

Creating your customized crêpe is similar — after choosing the base flavor, you can add fruit, sauce (choices include caramel, chocolate, peanut butter, berry, and more), crunch, gelato, and/or sorbet to top it off. If it's super hot out, you can build your own sundae or milkshake, too. Crunched for time or simply can't decide on what ingredients to choose for your sweet treat? iDessert has your back. Head on over to the Chef's Favorites menu for some already-created dessert masterpieces. Served in iDessert's signature VEGAS Bowl, these treats include Cozy (chocolate crust, mocha gelato, vanilla cake, and caramel), Fruity (raspberry base with strawberry sorbet and a warm berry compote, Rock 'n' Roll (a sweet and savory treat with lemon cake, pistachio gelato and berry sauce), and more. Not to mention, the chef's Banana Foster and Oreo Fudge crêpes. My eyes are welling with happy tears right now.

From the incredible range of flavors and delectable treats we've already seen, it's clear that iDessert wants to make sure that they offer something for everyone. The shop has also dedicated itself to offering 100 percent dairy or gluten-free desserts. To top it all off, you can enjoy an array of gourmet tea or coffee (with cookies or biscotti) after you've savored the last bite of your dessert.

So, who's behind this tasty, innovative concept anyway? Award-winning French pastry chef Jean-Phillipe Maury. After realizing his love for all things pastry at a young age, Maury spent a decade in culinary training and went on to receive the title of “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” — the Best Pastry Chef in France. Maury proceeded to become the executive pastry chef at the famed Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, manage dessert production at 17 gourmet restaurants and catering companies, open two renowned Vegas-based patisseries, appear as a judge on Iron Chef, and prepare "close to 15,000 pastries each day with his team of 70 employees." Um, wow. A moment of silence, please.

iDessert, which has opened its first location in San Diego's Little Italy, is Maury's latest culinary project, and the reviews are already great. The shop has received a whopping 4.7 out of 5 stars on Facebook based on hundreds of ratings. Zagat has followed suit, describing it as a "futuristic dessert shop" that "sweetens up San Diego," with hundreds of impressed commenters singing their praises on the website as well. I mean, it's no wonder. With the rise of individual-focused customizable products, from personally tailored shampoo to those specialty vitamins that are all over Instagram, Maury's idea to use technology to bring that same experience to food is definitely genius. We can only hope that iDessert goes global one day — I think everyone deserves some of this delicious goodness in their lives.