South Florida Sun Sentinel
Feb 22, 2022 3:51 PM
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(l to r) Damn Good Hospitality’s CEO Jeff John and partners Scott Dietz and Brian Freed. (Felipe Cuevas/Courtesy)
Sugar-free diets be damned, at least in Delray Beach this summer.
That’s when Damn Good Sweets bakery is expected to open in the newish Plaza Delray, west of Florida’s Turnpike at the intersection of West Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road.
“We’re going to do showstoppers, like this mango sundae … with coconut ice cream, mango sorbet, chili macadamia brittle, tamarind lime coulis, kaffir lime leaves,” says chef Morgan Larsson who will helm the bakery. “Then it’s presented in a giant glass. It’s super delicious and very cool color-wise and tall. That’s going to be something that we’re going to get a lot of press on.”
Damn Good Sweets is the newest venture from Damn Good Hospitality, the entertainment/restaurant/lounge group whose stable includes Revolution Live, Stache Drinking Den, Green Bar & Kitchen, Backyard and Warren American Whiskey Kitchen.
In fact, it is Warren — a fine dining restaurant in the Shop Delray shopping center next door — that brought Damn Good Sweets to the neighborhood since the restaurant does not have the kitchen set-up for Larsson’s extravagant creations.
Chef Morgan Larsson will be taking the helm at Damn Good Sweets in West Delray Beach this summer. The bakery is a part of the Damn Good Hospitality entertainment/restaurant/lounge group (Revolution Live, Stache Drinking Den, Green Bar & Kitchen, Backyard and Warren Delray). (Stefan Andersson/Courtesy)
“It’s not by chance that we put Warren there,” explains Jeff John, CEO of Damn Good Hospitality. “We understand the market. We have friends that live in the market. It … is wide open out there where you have tens of thousands of homes being built out there. There wasn’t a fine dining restaurant there. There really is not a dessert concept out there. We believe there is a niche for a retail store as well.”
John says that while Damn Good Sweets will be the dessert engine for all of Damn Good Hospitality’s venues, there will also be a “small retail component” at the bakery. Though it won’t really be a sit-down eatery, there will be about six seats inside and eight to 12 seats outside on a veranda.
“We are right next to Warren,” John adds. “The idea was to elevate Warren’s dessert program. But yeah, I think in front people will want the homemade ice cream, the over-the-top ice cream sandwiches Morgan has planned, the mango sundae, all of these over-the-top desserts, all made from scratch, all authentically made by a wonderful chef.”
Larsson predicts another drool-worthy creation will be the Pizzookie.
“I was in the Bahamas over the summer and I did these pizza cookies,” Larsson recalls. “I call it a Pizzookie. It’s done on a stovetop and finished in the oven, cast iron skillet cooked chocolate chip cookie filled with Nutella, topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, toasted marshmallows, chocolate sculpture and hot chocolate fudge. Things like that … done with a very modern twist. We take classic pastry and shake It up … into something people have never seen before.”
The logo for Damn Good Sweets, which will open in the new Plaza Delray restaurant/retail center at 8728 W. Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. (Damn Good Hospitality/Courtesy)
Larsson is a third-generation pastry chef from Sweden (”I grew up in a bakery/pastry shop”) who had two popular shops in his home country before coming to the United States in the early 1990s, where his resume included New York City star-maker restaurants such as the Four Seasons, the Pierre Hotel, Essex House, the St. Regis Hotel, the Russian Tea Room, Windows on the World, Aja Restaurant and Aquavit.
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Dubbed “The Danish King,” he even had a stint in Aventura at Prime Grill around 2003-2005. Recently, he was the global culinary director of CSM Bakery Solutions in Atlanta.
He says he plans on moving to South Florida, settling in the Delray Beach area.
John says that he thinks Larsson’s collaboration with Damn Good Sweets could launch a new mashup in cuisine.
“I am very excited for Morgan to have the access to work with our whiskey and spirits collections,” he adds. “I firmly believe there is direct relationship with what we specialize in, which is whiskey and spirits and the dessert that he specializes in. I think a new category … or a wonderful marriage is about to happen. You haven’t really seen that.”
Damn Good Sweets will be located at Plaza Delray, 8728 W. Atlantic Ave. Delray Beach (suite B).
Let’s Go, South Florida host Arlene Borenstein takes a look at entrepreneur Jeff John’s latest venture Warren American Whiskey Kitchen in Delray Beach.
The Warren American Whiskey Kitchen, opening soon in Delray Beach, will offer a unique selection of whiskies.
Corona Electric Beach at America’s Backyard in Fort Lauderdale was an EDM festival with DJs Claptone, Carabetta and Doons, Ryan Nathan and Roland. “We have four DJs performing tonight,” explains Jarred John, one of the owners of America’s Backyard. “We try to do a lot of different events throughout the year with our partner Corona, so with this festival we bring in a day party element to it, so you kind of get that beach vibe with the sun and then goes into dusk with all the lights.”
