Factory of goodies

You may never guess, looking at Kenneth Lim's resume, that he would end up presiding over a kitchen. With his degree from the U.P School of Economics, where he was comfortably ensconced in the top five of his class, it was far more likely for him to have ended up a fund manager or an investment banker, than a chef. But that's just what happened to him - for some reason, instead of attending an Ivy League Institution for his MBA, Ken hied off to Peter Kump's professional culinary school in the Big Apple. Ken honed his love of food and cooking at Kump's original East 91st campus (which has since moved to 23rd St.), where he developed and improved on much of what he learned from his mother and sister, both of whom, Ken assures me, were very good cooks. Today, Ken's the proud patriarch of Dessert Factory, a must-try for the curious and adventurous.

The restaurant is one of the few local examples of interior designer Pitpit Mercado's work, who has since moved on to London. A gigantic jester's hat with orange and yellow tongs dominates the place, but cream-beige chairs with faux leather diamond-panes provide soothing counterpoints to the gaudy colors, allowing patrons to ease into the restaurant's ambience.

A wall-sized mirror, suggested by Kenneth Cobonpue (furniture's it-boy), provides an unusual (but suspicious) complement. Much like a pane found in a Hall of Mirrors, restaurant patrons gazing into its distorted surface are fooled into thinking that they're skinnier than they really are. Kenneth denies that there's any devious reason for this mirror, but for sure, it helps bolster your decision to order dessert. Located at the ground floor of the upscale Ayala mall (and opening in SM tomorrow), Dessert Factory's harlequin inspired décor is a fit setting for the playful twists that Ken has incorporated in his menu. For example, Ken has just invented "Achocolypse Now," a chocolate cake to end all chocolate cakes. Composed of six layers of chocolate, starting with a chocolate crust, then chocolate cheesecake, chocolate ganache, chocolate cake (of course), chocolate pudding and, to top it all off, chocolate frosting. This concoction is whipped up into a four and a half inch tall creation, guaranteed to form an equal number of layers of fat in your gut.

There's also the Cheesecakesicle, which is frozen cheesecake on a popsicle dipped in chocolate. The redeeming factor for this is that you can carry it with you to lick while going around the mall, working off the calories while gaining them. Ken sells the posies for only P75.00, and the sticks come in plain and oreo flavors.

Ken's favorite dessert, however, is the "Pistashew" ice cream cake, a pistachio ice cream confection layered with cashew flavored sans rival. Ken replaces the usual dairy layer of butter with ice cream, and whips up a deliciously unique addition to his family of ice cream cakes. Dessert Factory is known for re-introducing to Cebu those ice cream cheesecakes our watering mouths used to savor from Magnolia, and he now has seven flavors available in his freezer.

But desserts aren't the only things you find here. Ken also offers staples, with no particular cuisine or style. The menu is pretty eclectic and doesn't target a particular segment of the market. His only rule of thumb is that he only serves food that he likes to eat - in other words, you won't find anything in the menu that he won't eat himself.

Even in the regular menu, you can see tinges of Ken's creativity - for example, he serves crispy pata, but his is served boneless. And as for his favorite? The spicy chicken wings, unlike the original version you find in Buffalo, New York, are not immersed in the usual piquant spicy sauce, but served on the side, to accommodate parents who want a child-friendly version.

Now we realize why it's called a factory - this is a showpiece for Ken's brilliant inventions. A self described introvert, Ken can also be branded a techie, with the inordinate amount of interest he showed in my computer (demonstrated by pulling out parts of my laptop I didn't even know existed.) This inquisitive nature accounts for the ingenious creations fabricated at the Factory, the transformation of commonplace dishes into extraordinary ones, the witty fusion of the usual, with the unusual. And, needless to say, delicious.

Now, if he can only invent a zero calorie, fat and lactose-free dessert that actually tastes good...how about it, Ken?