Paradiso Ristorante

Molto Delizioso

A girlfriend of mine had a dinner party for her father’s birthday at Paradiso Ristorante in Lake Worth. I heard glowing reviews and when I asked about the desserts, her husband described nitrogen gelato and this was enough for me to determine where my Road Trip For Food (RTFF) was heading next.

I called the restaurant and was told that the desserts were all made in house, my main requirement, when selecting a RTFF location, and I set the date.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I immediately asked for the dessert menu. After all, how could I possibly order lunch, without knowing what my ‘main’ course was going to be?

We had a wonderful waiter, who pointed out the Three Course Option on the menu. I thanked him and explained that I did plan on ordering three courses, but they would all be in the category of dessert. I opted for a delicious and beautiful salad of golden beets, apples, gorgonzola cheese and roasted macadamia nuts.

All six of us loved our lunches, but Desserts Required is so named, because of the passion for the end of the meal course. I spent a little bit of time finding out when the desserts were prepared and we were told that the desserts were made either that day or the day before.

Of the nine desserts offered, I ordered 6 of them: Ricotta Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Vanilla Panna Cotta, Pistachio Cake with Pistachio Mousse and Pistachio Gelato, Mango Bavarian Cream with Berries Gelato and the Hazelnut Nitrogen Gelato.

We were not disappointed with any of the desserts, although without a doubt, the Hazelnut Nitrogen Gelato stood out above all the others. It is fun to watch Chef Andy, the pastry chef, come out and do his mad scientist imitation. The smoke is overflowing and at times hiding Chef Andy from our view as the bowl starts to take on the feel of a witch’s cauldron. Creamy does not come close to describing this heavenly creation.

The dessert menu descriptions were not accurate, as two of the desserts listed gelato as a part of the dessert, yet gelato was not included with the dishes we received. The Pistachio Cake/Pistachio Mousse was wonderful, as was the Mango Bavarian Cream, but it would have been nice to have been able to enjoy the gelato with them. The Vanilla Panna Cotta turned out to be a Ginger/Clove Panna Cotta that was delicious. So, in the end, the dessert menu errors did not take away from our opportunity to enjoy top quality desserts.

The prices at Paradiso jump substantially from lunch to dinner, so if you are on a budget, I strongly suggest enjoying lunch at this lovely restaurant. Or, looking at it from my dessert oriented point of view, why not order three desserts at lunchtime for less than the price of two at dinner?

Whichever meal you decide to enjoy at Paradiso, one thing is guaranteed: you are going to leave saying, ‘Molto Delizioso’!