Photo by Richard Maack

Even if Marie Antoinette had said “let them eat cake,” she wouldn’t have approved of mere commoners reveling in the luscious, riveting gâteau Marjolaine ($9) at Christopher’s Restaurant & Crush Lounge. Never mind that the dessert wasn’t even created until well over 100 years after the French Revolution, by the father of nouvelle cuisine, Fernand Point (1897-1955).

Chef Christopher Gross has been a Valley fixture for so long it’s easy to forget he has cooked in other places, including Los Angeles, London and Paris. A longtime fan of the late Point, Gross first discovered the gâteau Marjolaine while working at the Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles. The labor-intensive dessert became part of his repertoire as he cooked around the globe, but only as a special, never as a menu mainstay. When Gross opened Christopher’s Restaurant & Crush Lounge at Biltmore Fashion Park in 2008, the gâteau Marjolaine finally gained a permanent place on the menu.

Gross may be more famous for his ubiquitous chocolate tower, but the gâteau Marjolaine had us the moment we sank our forks through the rich chocolate ganache coating and the five creamy layers of chocolate, vanilla and coffee. What’s that barely perceptible crunch? A gossamer layer of almond meringue tucked between each layer – exquisite. If that isn’t enough (and truly it is), an accompanying black sesame seed tuile holds the richest, darkest chocolate sorbet ever to pass our lips, so decadent that it’s hard to believe it’s sorbet.

Christopher’s gâteau Marjolaine is the perfect excuse to celebrate this July 14, Bastille Day. Indeed, let us all eat cake.


2502 E. Camelback Road,
Phoenix (Biltmore Fashion Park)
602-522-2344
christophersaz.com