Extraordinary Desserts: Thirty-Seven Years of Cakes With Gold Leaf On Them

Overview

Extraordinary Desserts has been San Diego's answer to the question "where do we go after dinner" since 1989, and it is still run by the woman who opened it.

Karen Krasne is a San Diego native who studied food science in Hawaii and then pastry in Paris, training with French houses including Le Cordon Bleu, LeNôtre, Valrhona, Pierre Hermé and Bellouet Conseil. She came home and started making cakes. Gourmet called her the Queen of Cakes. Forbes named her one of the top ten pastry chefs in the country.

Thirty-seven years later there are two locations, and the cakes still arrive with fresh flowers and gold leaf on them.

Two things to fix before you go, because the internet will send you wrong:

The Bankers Hill location is 2870 Fourth Avenue — not Fifth.

The original Fifth Avenue shop closed on April 24, 2019 and reopened on Fourth the next morning. Plenty of listings still carry the old address, which has been dead for seven years.

And the second: this is not only a dessert shop. There's a savory lunch menu, coffee, tea, beer and wine, and at Little Italy a full bar. More on that below, because it's the part regulars use and newcomers miss.

The Two Locations

Little Italy — 1430 Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101 · (619) 294-7001

The later-closing of the two, with outdoor seating and a full bar.

Bankers Hill — 2870 Fourth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103 · (619) 294-2132

On the ground floor of The Louie Lofts at Palm and Olive. A full-service restaurant seating about 100. Metered street parking Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., or the garage at 2850 Sixth Avenue. Bus stop at 4th and Palm.

On hours, we're going to be honest with you rather than confident. Their own website is built in a way we couldn't read, and the third-party listings disagree with each other — one set has Little Italy closing at 11 p.m., another at midnight, and the midnight version looks like it predates the pandemic.

The shape of it, as best we can tell: Little Italy runs roughly 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weeknights and to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Bankers Hill closes earlier, between 8:30 and 9:30.

If you're planning a late dessert, ring first. The reputation for being open until midnight appears to belong to the old days.

What to Order

The cakes are the reason, and they have names:

• La Bête Noire — the signature chocolate one
• Shangri-La
• Ivoire Royale
• Chocolate Dulce de Leche
• Blood Orange Ricotta
• Lemon Ricotta
• Dame Chocolate — gluten-free

They come decorated rather than plated — fresh flowers, gold leaf, the kind of finish that makes people take a photograph before a fork. Whipped cream is a separate add-on, which tells you something about how seriously they take it.

On price, a caveat we'd rather give than skip. Their own site doesn't publish menu prices anywhere we could read, so the only figures available come from delivery platforms — which mark up. Treat these as the shape of the pricing, not the counter price:

| | |

|---|---|

| Cake slices | roughly $15.50 to $18 |

| Whole cakes | roughly $86 to $96 |

| Whipped cream | about $3 |

Expect to pay less in person than a delivery app shows.

The Part People Miss

There's a savory menu, and it runs limited hours — roughly 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Paninis and grilled cheese in the $18 to $21.50 range, including vegan and vegetarian versions. A creamy tomato basil soup around $11.50, with a 32-ounce container to take away for about $18. Salads around $20, including a vegan Caesar. A charcuterie plate and an artisan cheese plate, each around $41 and each meant for two to four people. An old-fashioned onion dip.

Then a serious drinks list — Americano, cappuccino, latte, brown sugar oat milk latte, iced Vietnamese, Balinese. Chai, matcha, golden milk, a passion fruit matcha spritz. Roughly $5.50 to $12.50 depending on how elaborate you get.

And they serve alcohol. Beer and wine at both, a full bar at Little Italy, and Bankers Hill lists a corkage fee if you'd rather bring a bottle.

Which means the thing to know is this: you can have actual lunch here. Soup, a panini and a slice of La Bête Noire is a better lunch than most places in Bankers Hill manage, and nobody thinks of this place at noon.

High Tea

Little Italy runs a high tea service — $55 per person, in the afternoon, with loose-leaf tea, savory toasts and seasonal sweets, and a sparkling wine upgrade available. Reservations required at least two days ahead with a card on file.

One honest flag: the listing we found for it ran October to November of last year and was branded as a seasonal autumn service. So we can't tell you it's running right now at that price. If high tea is the reason you're going, that's a phone call — (619) 294-7001.

Cakes for an Occasion

This is a substantial part of what they do, and the details are better documented than the retail side.

Wedding cakes start at $225, with couples typically spending around $500. Delivery and on-site setup are included with every wedding cake, across a service area that runs from Chula Vista and Coronado up through Carlsbad and Rancho Santa Fe, with wider delivery to Fallbrook, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, Jamul and Alpine.

Tastings are $40 for two at Little Italy — three flavours with coffee or tea. There's also a take-home Petit Dessert Tasting Box at $14.95 with up to six mini desserts, which is a cheaper way to sample the range whether or not you're getting married.

Design consultations are with Karen Krasne herself, who sketches and proposes. Add-ons include custom plating sauces, cake stand rental and fresh florals. They also do dessert bars of petite desserts, in-shop private events, and first-anniversary keepsake cakes.

Dietary options across the board: dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian.

Contact for any of it: events@extraordinarydesserts.com or (619) 294-7001 ext 1.

What isn't published: a lead time for ordinary whole-cake pre-orders, or any minimum order. For wedding cakes the recommendation is several months ahead. For a birthday cake next Saturday, call and ask.

How to Go

• Little Italy: 1430 Union St, San Diego, CA 92101 · (619) 294-7001
• Bankers Hill: 2870 Fourth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 · (619) 294-2132
• Roughly 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Little Italy, later Friday and Saturday; Bankers Hill closes earlier — call to confirm
• Savory menu 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, to 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday
• Slices around $15.50–$18 · whole cakes around $86–$96
• Beer and wine at both; full bar at Little Italy
• Bankers Hill: metered street parking, or the garage at 2850 Sixth Ave
• Little Italy has outdoor seating
• Events: events@extraordinarydesserts.com · (619) 294-7001 ext 1

Good to Know

• It's Fourth Avenue, not Fifth. The old address has been wrong online since 2019.
• Call about hours. The published listings conflict and the midnight reputation looks outdated.
• There's a real lunch menu — soup, paninis, salads, cheese boards — and almost nobody knows.
• You can get a drink. Beer and wine at both, full bar at Little Italy.
• In-person prices should beat the delivery apps.
• The $14.95 tasting box is the cheap way to try six things.
• Bankers Hill seats about 100 and is the full-restaurant one.
• Little Italy is the later one and has the patio.
• Gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options exist across the menu.
• Wedding cakes start at $225 and include delivery and setup.

Why It's Worth It

Because thirty-seven years is a long time to keep making something this fussy, and the same person is still doing it.

Karen Krasne trained in Paris with houses whose names mean something to pastry people, came back to San Diego in 1989, and has been turning out cakes with gold leaf on them ever since. The decoration isn't the point so much as the evidence — somebody is still spending that much time per cake, in a city where dessert is usually an afterthought on a dinner menu.

It is also, genuinely, the best after-dinner answer in San Diego. Little Italy at nine o'clock on a Friday, a slice of La Bête Noire and a glass of something, is a specific and well-established pleasure. The glass cases do most of the persuading when you walk in, which is the correct design for a dessert shop.

But the thing we'd actually tell a local is to go at lunch. A bowl of tomato basil soup, a grilled cheese, a flat white and a slice is a very good midday hour, it costs less than dinner anywhere nearby, and the room is quiet at noon in a way it never is at nine. The savory menu is the most underused thing about this place.

Go to Little Italy for the evening version and the bar, and Bankers Hill if you want to sit down properly and be served. Either way, order the Bête Noire first and work outward.

Nearby: Little Italy is worth an evening on its own, and our Local Picks have more in the neighbourhood.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Extraordinary Desserts? Two locations: 1430 Union Street in Little Italy, and 2870 Fourth Avenue in Bankers Hill, on the ground floor of The Louie Lofts at Palm and Olive.

Isn't it on Fifth Avenue? Not since 2019. The original 1989 shop at 2929 Fifth Avenue closed on April 24, 2019 and reopened at 2870 Fourth Avenue the following morning, because a new building was going in on the old site. Many listings still show the Fifth Avenue address.

What are the hours? Published listings conflict, and the restaurant's own site doesn't make them readable. Broadly, Little Italy runs about 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weeknights and later on Friday and Saturday; Bankers Hill closes between 8:30 and 9:30. Call to confirm — (619) 294-7001 for Little Italy, (619) 294-2132 for Bankers Hill.

Are they open until midnight? That appears to be out of date. The only source showing a midnight close has no date on it and looks pre-pandemic.

Who founded it? Karen Krasne, in 1989. She still owns it and still does the wedding cake design consultations herself.

Has she won a James Beard Award? No. She has been a featured dessert chef at the James Beard House in New York, which is a guest-chef cooking appearance rather than an award, a nomination or a semifinalist listing. Forbes has named her one of the top ten pastry chefs in the country.

What should I order? La Bête Noire is the signature. The other named cakes are Shangri-La, Ivoire Royale, Chocolate Dulce de Leche, Blood Orange Ricotta, Lemon Ricotta, and Dame Chocolate, which is gluten-free.

How much is a slice? Roughly $15.50 to $18, though those figures come from delivery platforms, which mark up. Expect to pay less at the counter. Whole cakes run roughly $86 to $96.

Do they serve real food? Yes — a savory menu runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday and to 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday, with paninis, grilled cheese, tomato basil soup, salads, and charcuterie and cheese plates.

Do they serve alcohol? Yes. Beer and wine at both locations, and a full bar at Little Italy. Bankers Hill also lists a corkage fee.

Is there high tea? Little Italy has offered it at $55 per person with reservations at least two days ahead. The listing we found was from last autumn and branded seasonally, so call to check whether it's currently running.

Can I order a whole cake in advance? Yes, but no lead time or minimum order is published. Call. For wedding cakes the recommendation is several months ahead.

Do they do wedding cakes? Yes — starting at $225, with couples typically spending around $500, and delivery and on-site setup included. Tastings are $40 for two at Little Italy.

Is there a cheaper way to try several things? The Petit Dessert Tasting Box is $14.95 for up to six mini desserts.

Do they have gluten-free or vegan options? Yes — dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options across the menu, including a gluten-free Dame Chocolate cake and a vegan Caesar salad.

Where do I park at Bankers Hill? Metered street parking Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., or the garage at 2850 Sixth Avenue.