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Dare to dream in Caramel
A new dessert boutique buds in Brookside
The Dessert for Two from Caramel in Brookside. Puff pastry s'mores, fruit tarts and more are featured. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
Published: 12/20/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 12/20/2009 10:41 AM
Life without dessert would be pointless.
It's long been Doreen Durano's philosophy and recently became her mission statement with the opening of Caramel, her bakery and dessert bar in Brookside.
Durano changed the culinary landscape last year with the opening of Tulsa's first cupcake boutique. In the style of Magnolia Bakery in New York City and Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, she hit on a need most didn't know they had — a need for serious cupcakes made with the very best ingredients like Plugra butter and Valrhona chocolate.
But after several months of success, she was bursting with ideas beyond cupcakes. She dreamed of a bakery case of French pastries, bubbling crocks of fresh fruit crisps and made-to-order soufflés.
Once she found the space, the former Brookside location of Stephen Howard's Kokoa chocolate shop, it was a matter of weeks before she opened. Caramel has become everything Durano dreamed and more.
In addition to plated desserts and a bakery case, Caramel has salads, soups, sandwiches and brunch.
Even more than at Kupcakz, Caramel is an extension of Durano's culinary background, including years working in Las Vegas at the Luxor, Ritz-Carlton and with Tom Colicchio at Craftsteak.
"Working at the Ritz taught me so much about presentation," she said. "I try to re-create the feel of the Ritz, that sophistication."
But she's attuned to the fact that customers want wonderful-tasting food even more than beautiful food.
"If
you create good food first," she said, "then you can always create an artful presentation."
Her attention to detail is exhausting. She bakes her own bread. Roasts her own meat. Makes marshmallows. Roasts peanuts for peanut butter. Toasts coconut. For her apple crisp, she sautées the apples in a homemade caramel sauce, then sprinkles with cobbler topping and tops with homemade Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean gelato.
Sandwiches are on the same level as the desserts when it comes to detail. A turkey sandwich is taken to another level with havarti cheese, cranberry and orange chutney, butter lettuce, tomato and sage mayonnaise on homemade whole-wheat bread. All sandwiches are served with a side dish, the most popular being a sweet potato and bacon gratin.
Evenings have brought many couples who are especially drawn to the Dessert for Two — a plateful of desserts made by the pastry chef, which include a mixture of chocolate, fruit and gelatos. On a recent weekday, the plate included handmade s'mores, made with puff pastry and homemade marshmallows, as well as a fruit tart and vanilla and chocolate gelato with whisky sauce.
And Durano doesn't mind if a bit of trivia from her personal life has brought in a customer or two. Her husband, Mark Chatfield, is the lead guitarist for Bob Seger.
They live in Glenpool at a pace much different than in Las Vegas, but, she said, Tulsa is now home.
Natalie Mikles 581-8486
natalie.mikles@tulsaworld.com
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