Belgian Yummies Artisan Treats’ Belgian’s favorite crepe and strawberry dream waffle with cappuccino and hot chocolate. -LAURA TICHY / FLORIDA WEEKLY
The Dish: Decadent desserts
The Place: Belgian Yummies Artisan Treats, 2269 First St., Fort Myers; 239-270-0204; belgianyummiesfortmyers.com
The Details:
Whether you’re craving a sweet brunch or a late-evening dessert, Belgian Yummies Artisan Treats is the place you seek. Located in downtown’s Historic Arcade building, the atmosphere matches perfectly for serving gelato. But the additional menu items of liege waffles, crepes and coffees make this more than just an ice cream parlor. Most things here are homemade by the owner. The waffles and crepes baking to order on the hot irons fill the air with a mouthwatering aroma that makes you contemplate going beyond the case with the 20 or so flavors of homemade gelatos and sorbets. The menu offers a half-dozen suggested waffle combinations and 10 crepe combinations, but you may create your own combinations as well. If you’re there for brunch, try the frothy dark roast cappuccino ($3.95) or the hot chocolate ($4.75) that’s made from actual Belgian chocolate melted into milk, so it tastes like drinking liquid chocolate.
The thin, tender pancake of a freshly cooked crepe makes for a tasty brunch or dessert for a lighter appetite. From the suggested combinations, the Belgian’s favorite ($11.25) proves a simple yet decadent delight. The owner folds a large crepe that he’s freshly cooked to a lacy brown and then nestles a scoop of French vanilla gelato and whipped cream at either end. The Belgian part of the name comes from the large ladle of the owner’s homemade Belgian chocolate sauce that tops the dish. The sauce stays liquid on the warm crepe but hardens into a chocolate shell when it meets the cold of the gelato beneath, so it’s like having both a pancake and an ice cream bar for brunch.
Belgian Yummies Artisan Treats’ Belgian’s favorite crepe and strawberry dream waffle with cappuccino and hot chocolate. -LAURA TICHY / FLORIDA WEEKLY
If you’re hungry for something more substantial, try the waffles. Liege waffles are different because they are made from a yeast-risen dough topped with Belgian pearl sugar that caramelizes the waffle crust to make it crunchy around a dense, chewy center. The strawberry dream ($10.65) is one of the suggested waffle combinations. As the owner bakes the waffle on the iron, he freshly cuts the strawberries to order, and then he assembles the dish with an eye to artful presentation. Strawberry gelato and fresh whipped cream get nestled against the strawberry-topped waffle, and then a generous ladle of that homemade Belgian chocolate sauce takes this dish over the top with multiple taste experiences. The liquid sauce on the warm waffle and strawberries provides a sweet contrast to the tartness of the fresh fruit below, and then that sauce again hardens into a chocolate shell where it meets the gelato.
Since the owner needs time during the week to prepare the gelato, chocolate sauces, waffle dough and crepe batter himself, the parlor is open to serve customers 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. But that’s when you would have the time to go downtown and treat yourself, anyway.