Desserts, dessert cocktails coming to Arts District, Summerlin

Josh Molina saw a dessert gap in the Arts District and at Downtown Summerlin and decided to fill it.

“We were kind of looking around,” said Molina, co-owner of Makers and Finders at 1120 S. Main St. and in Summerlin, and Take It Easy at 3540 Wynn Road in Chinatown. “There are so many great restaurants, but what we kind of noticed is that out of all these places, there’s nothing specifically for desserts and dessert cocktails.”

October trip to Portland, Maine, Molina noticed how much both of those things can contribute to a robust nightlife scene.

“Even with COVID and everything else going on,” he said, “there were couples everywhere, music, and everybody just enjoying this beautiful array of desserts and cocktails. In looking around our neighborhoods, there isn’t anything like it.”

And so, both locations of Makers & Finders will soon — April 5 for Main Street, April 12 for Downtown Summerlin — offer a selection of 10 desserts, plus dessert cocktails. For desserts, he said, “we kind of pulled from our coffee program” in selections such as Chai Choco-Flan, in which chai-infused lechera flan is piled atop a warm brownie with dulce de leche and vanilla chai whipped cream. Other dessert selections will include the Rosé Tres Leches, chiffon sponge cake soaked in rosé-infused coconut milk with Italian meringue and assorted fruits; tiramisu; and chocolate cake. All desserts will be $9.

Dessert cocktails at the Main Street location will include the Barraquito, $10, with Licor 43, condensed milk, steamed milk, espresso and cinnamon; the Lavender Sorbet Spritz, $12, with Martini Fiero and lavender and coconut sorbets finished at the table with Martini Rosso Prosecco; and the Brandy Alejandro, $11, cognac, Kahlua, cream and a dash of nutmeg. (The Downtown Summerlin location has a beer and wine license, so the drink menu will be more limited there.)

Molina said by late spring/early summer, he plans to extend hours to 11 p.m. weekdays and midnight on weekends.

Which brings us to dinner and an extended menu with shareable dishes including Crispy Pork Ribs, $12, with house espresso barbecue sauce, crispy shallots, cabbage slaw, pickled pears and pink peppercorn aioli; plant-based selections such as the Atollado de Jardin, $18, which is pan-roasted seasonal vegetables with charred scallions, cilantro, jalapeno, rice and crispy Brussels sprouts; and Atollado Colombiano, $20, crispy pork belly, beef, shrimp, rice, charred scallions, cilantro and jalapeno.

The breakfast and lunch menus are being augmented as well with many choices, including such plant-based dishes as the Just Impossible Sando, $14, toasted sourdough with folded Just Egg, Impossible breakfast sausage, spiced tomato jam and vegan truffle aioli, and non-plant-based such as Fresh Berry Latin Honey Toast, $12, with chocolate-coconut whipped cream, and Pickled Pear Salad, $13, with arugula, pickled pear, crispy chickpeas, goat cheese, cherry tomato confit and avocado mash.

“To bring it all together, we’re kind of incorporating our Chinatown location,” Molina said. “We’ll build them at Take It Easy and plate and garnish at Makers & Finders. Breads, bagels, croissants will all be made in our Chinatown facility.

“We created this little distribution team within ourselves. The idea is to be fun and interactive.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.