December is dessert month at all SoDel Concepts restaurants

Save the calorie-counting for January. SoDel Concepts is offering innovative, delectable desserts during the entire month of December at all 10 of the hospitality company’s coastal Sussex County restaurants.

The promotion is an excellent way to showcase the skills of Dru Tevis, the company’s new corporate pastry chef, said Scott Kammerer, president of SoDel Concepts. “These incredible desserts demonstrate – in a very delicious way – that we are taking our dessert program to the next level.“

Tevis, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York, now the International Culinary Center, kicked off the promotion with cookie plates designed for each restaurant. The restaurants’ chefs contributed recipes, and in some cases, they made most if not all of the cookies at their establishment.

No two plates are alike. The Clubhouse at Baywood, for instance, is serving salted blondies, dark-and-white chocolate brownies, pecan pie bars and flourless chocolate cookies.

At Catch 54, the plate includes strawberry brownie bites, thumbprint cookies, gingersnap cream pie with bourbon buttercream, and caramel nut bars.

The restaurants’ concepts helped influence some of the choices. Lupo Italian Kitchen, for instance, is selling persimmon empire biscuits, hazelnut baci cookies, tiramisu chocolate truffles and gianduja-walnut brownies. (Gianduja is a sweet chocolate spread with hazelnut paste.)

NorthEast Seafood Kitchen features chocolate whoopie pies, oatmeal cream pies, maple pecan and an apple butter crumb bar.

Tevis came up with the cookie plate idea because so many friends and family members go out to celebrate the holiday season. “You can enjoy a great dinner and good conversation as well as an after-dinner treat,” said Kammerer.

The restaurants will introduce new dessert specials each week but will run the cookie plate option all month. For details, check the restaurants’ Facebook pages.