Didn't you always wish for the day when you could have dessert for dinner? At Finale Desserterie, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Whether you are stopping by after a visit to the theater or if you simply want to satisfy that nagging sweet tooth, get ready to be pampered and treated to the Boston area's most scrumptious and artistic confections.
Nestled among the city's hustle and bustle in one of its three locations in the Boston metropolitan area, Finale is a savory and sweet oasis that offers Bostonians an escape from life's everyday stresses.
From the get-go, Finale's soft glow of candlelight and lush red velvet booths provide guests with nothing but a warm welcome. Leaving the sights and sounds of passing cars and pedestrians behind, patrons enter a classically romantic world characterized by molten chocolate lava cake and creamy cr??me brul?©e.
As first-years at the Harvard Business School (HBS), Finale co-founders Paul Conforti and Kim Moore were already talking up the idea for the creation of an upscale restaurant that would specialize in dessert. With a strong passion for customer service and the desire to deliver a quality dining experience to others, the concept for Finale was born. With the help of fellow classmate Kristen Krzyzewski, the trio soon began to write a business plan, initially called "Room For Dessert."
While seeking out potential investors and searching for the perfect location, Conforti and Moore gained invaluable experience by working in restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory. According to Finale's Web site, they were, unofficially, the lowest-paid graduates of HBS. However, Moore said that they "gained appreciation for standing on your feet and working with a broad range of co-workers. Our nine or 10 dollar-an-hour jobs solidified in investors' minds how committed we were to them as well as to our business plan."
According to Moore, everything pointed to the success of a strictly dessert restaurant as long as it was presented on an upscale level: "There are plenty of desert cakes in the casual segments, but no one is doing it in the upscale way." Moore continued, "Finale hopes to educate people on what it means to have a better dessert and to take the average dessert experience to the next level."
Finale offers a selection of familiar, yet creatively distinctive plated desserts as well as appetizers and light meal entr?©es. Prices for Finale's individualized desserts range from $9.95 to $12.95. If you are on a budget, Finale's menu also includes desserts for two; starting at $16.95, Finale's three larger plated desserts, including the infamous Magnanimous Molten, are both delicious and sharable.
Though the prices may seem steep to the typical struggling college student, students do, in fact, make up a significant percentage of Finale's customer base. Due to its proximity to the Harvard campus, nearly 25 to 30 percent of Finale's Harvard Square location customers are college students. Moore said, "In one of Boston's finer dining restaurants, you may spend $100 on a meal before you even get to dessert. For about $10 [at Finale], you can get the same upscale experience."
Finale reinvents classic, timeless desserts such as cheesecake or pineapple upside down cake, into works of edible art that are both sophisticated and one-of-a-kind.
The portions are just right. Because Finale prides itself on using the best ingredients, the majority of the plated deserts are very rich. Finale's moderately sized portions demonstrate a strong consideration for and understanding of fine dessert and the human palette. If desserts were any larger, they might lose their artistic presence and taste overpowering.
Finale's staff is also extremely knowledgeable. Waiters and waitresses can easily rattle off crowd favorites or even suggest their own favorites to you. This close bond between waiter and customer makes for a very personal dining experience.
Even Finale's menu implies that creators had the customer's ultimate satisfaction in mind; for those who are of age, the menu is set up with suggestions of dessert wines and after-dinner drinks that perfectly compliment each respective dessert.
An experience at Finale is both sensory and sensual. Dessert is best when it entices all senses, and Finale does this flawlessly. With lighting that seems to glow, classic swing music playing softly in the background, the wafting aroma of freshly brewed espresso or jasmine tea, and the sight of beautifully crafted desserts, Finale caters to all senses. The desserterie's ambiance is timeless, decadent and a "backdrop for dessert, which is really the show," Moore said.
"Finale indicates the end of an experience, end of a theatric performance or musical piece, or even the grand finish of a fireworks display," Moore said. "Finale is a wonderful end to something, and in and our case, the end of a meal."
Whether you are being rewarded for finishing that last midterm exam, or if you are simply looking to escape from the busy world around you, Finale is the perfect ending to any day.
