Big things are happening for Coast couple and their restaurant, bake shop
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Coast couple operate adjacent Radish and Dolce, expanding seating and menus
- Radish offers seasonal Gulf-focused tasting menus, Valentine’s reservations.
- Dolce’s viral king cakes and specialty flavors drive multi-city sales.
William Rester is owner/chef of Radish, a fine dining restaurant that plays up its seasonal menus with regionally grown ingredients flavored with herbs grown in the restaurant garden.
Brooke Rester is owner/pastry chef at Dolce Bake Shop that has people lining up to take home one of her over-the-top king cakes and other treats.
Together, their businesses fill a building at 200 Jeff Davis Avenue — and they’re expanding to create overflow space for the upcoming Valentine’s Day tasting dinner and other special events, and squeezing Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day celebrations into the bake shop since they are just days apart this year.
Before he goes to work in the kitchen, William is building out a space behind Radish that will comfortably seat 30 people for meals and more for cocktail parties or business meetings.
It’s a separate space, similar in theme and style to Radish, only a few steps from the kitchen and with its own service for drinks.
“It just kind of came open at the right time,” he said.
Love is a 10-course meal
He’s also built a gourmet tasting menu for the opening celebration event of the new space on Valentine’s Day. What started as an eight-course tasting menu grew to 10, he said, because there are so many great local products on the Gulf Coast to include.
“This Valentine’s Day is going to be one to remember,” he said.
In addition to the regular menu that night will be a couple’s special of shared appetizer and dessert and each enjoying a petite filet with a side, for $105 per couple.
The tasting menu is a creative, adventurous selection of dishes that pairs Chef William’s culinary skills with fresh ingredients. Taste fish and chips made with smoked Gulf tripletail, a salad with mixed local greens with herbs topped with in-season Louisiana strawberry vinaigrette, holy ground oysters three ways and Coast Coffee rubbed Wagyu short rib. It’s priced at $95 per person.
King cakes gone viral
In an expansion of its own, word is out that Dolce Bake Shop has some of the most decadent king cakes in South Mississippi and the line was out the door Saturday as people poured in to claim one or more.
“We smashed every record we’ve ever set, and I’m not sure how we will ever top this day (or this week, for that matter),” Brooke Rester said. Their social media posts have gone viral as word of mouth takes on a whole new meaning.
One customer ordered a cake to announce to her family she was pregnant, accompanied by a sign that said, “The king cake isn’t the only thing with a baby inside.” Another woman said she was using her king cake for a gender reveal celebration.
These are party cakes, whether a slice for one person or a cake for a crowd. They come in flavors like their top-selling cream cheese Biscoff cookie butter king cake, Nutella with crushed Ferrero Rocher candies on top and their new Dubai chocolate with pistachio white chocolate filling, chocolate buttercream, glitter and gold leaf. “She’s rich. She’s dramatic. She’s limited,” she said.
“We make our buttercream from scratch with real butter. That’s what goes on top of our cakes,” Brooke said. It’s so good, many of their customers pay for extra icing on cakes that also come in flavors like traditional cinnamon, praline cream cheese, strawberry, blueberry, chocolate éclair and Bavarian.
“They go fast,” she said, which is why many people order their cakes instead of taking a chance the one they will be gone after the morning rush sweeps away those in stock. This year, those who live in Vancleave, Diamondhead, Mobile and other locations don’t have to drive to Long Beach because the Dolce cakes are being sold at 10 cities and towns across the Gulf Coast.
Sweetest holidays align
Besides king cakes, Dolce has cases filled with Mardi Gras cupcakes, cookies and chocolate or banana moon pies made with their own graham crackers and marshmallow.
What happens in a small shop when Valentine’s Day comes at the same time as Mardi Gras this year?
Brooke says they’ll have Valentine’s king cakes, too, staff-up and make space for the chocolate covered strawberries that are a favorite Valentine treat, especially when rolled in M&Ms, chocolate chips and other sweet toppings.
As the weather improves, the Resters will use a facade grant from Long Beach to add more tables and chairs outside to provide a place to savor a sweet treat or dine al fresco in style.
