Save Room For Dessert: Stephen Collucci Of Colicchio & Sons

On the corner of 10th Ave. and West 15th St. in Manhattan, Colicchio & Sons is part of a block full of great restaurants, including Morimoto, Del Posto, and Toro, all a stone's throw away. Within Colicchio & Sons, diners look onto the street through the full glass walls. The dining room is divided between a more formal dining room with tasting menu options in the back and the taproom in the front, with a more shareable menu.

Save Room for Dessert: Stephen Collucci of Colicchio & Sons (Slideshow)

Helming the dessert menu for both sides of the restaurant is pastry chef Stephen Collucci. Collucci has been a member of the Craft restaurant group for nearly eight years, jumping from Craftsteak New York to Craft Los Angeles, and then back east to Craft New York, before landing at Colicchio & Sons when they opened in 2010. The menus there include playful dishes like Waffles 'N Scream as well as head-scratching ingredients like black pepper crème fraiche. He incorporates a crunchy and salty component in many of his dishes, and uses a variety of ice creams such as cheesecake and toasted marshmallow. 

As the author of a doughnut cookbook, Glazed, Filled, Sugared & Dipped: Easy Doughnut Recipes to Fry or Bake at Home, Collucci is a master of the round pieces of heaven. Though he confesses, "I don't know that you ever truly master anything. I think that no matter how confident or proficient you are at one particular thing there is always room to grow," his coffee-glazed doughnuts with gianduja powder (chocolate and hazelnut), black currant jam, and toasted marshmallow ice cream beg to differ. Try those in the main dining room, and take a look through our slideshow to see Collucci putting them together.

Chocolate

Collucci arranges the chocolate pieces on his dessert in just the right places. "I think that no matter how confident or  proficient you are at one particular thing there is always room to grow," he says.

Lavender Meringue

The lavender meringue on this dessert adds an airiness to counteract the chocolate cake.

Click here for more photos of Stephen Collucci at work.

Jane Bruce is the Photo Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @janeebruce.