Photo by David Moore

The banana berry spring rolls ($8) at Sushi Roku, inside the W Scottsdale hotel, are almost too picturesque to eat – almost.

Visually striking? Yes, but it’s more than just a pretty plate. It’s full of palate-popping flavors: juicy berries, creamy bananas, caramel and even a hint of dark chocolate.

Four tightly wrapped egg roll wrappers fresh out of the deep fryer are simultaneously crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

The filling is a yin-yang mixture of bananas, strawberries and raspberries, muddled together with a little sugar and chopped white chocolate. The little flecks of green in the filling are minced shiso leaves, which have hints of cinnamon and cumin (also called perilla and used extensively in Asian cuisine).

Pastry Chef Kailey Fierro, who has been with Sushi Roku since June 2010, pairs the spring rolls with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream cradled in a curved, angular, vanilla-flavored tuile cookie.

“I drizzle caramel sauce over the spring rolls and also mix caramel and raspberry sauce for extra flavor,” she says. The two sauces are swirled together, bound by a thin chocolate border, creating a stained glass appearance.

Fierro also slices fresh bananas, sprinkles them with granulated sugar and blowtorches them for a brûlée-like effect.

The result is a summery, sweet finish – not too heavy but not quite as rich as Sushi Roku’s other popular dessert, a deep, dark chocolate lava cake. Stunning to look at, tantalizing to eat – what more could you ask for?

DETAILS
Sushi Roku (W Scottsdale)
7277 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale
480-970-2121
sushiroku.com