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Say fluffy treat a sweet way to end upscale meals
Cotton candy has gone upscale.
Those sticky blue and pink puffs that are standard fare at circuses have been redesigned into gentle, wispy strands dolled up on dishes and placed on the crisp, white-linen tablecloths of fine-dining restaurants.
Restaurant owners and chefs across the country are turning to spun sugar to sweeten their customers' experience. The confection conjures up memories of childhood and immediately puts most people at ease and makes them smile.
"It was just the twist we were looking for," says Eddie Toporek, who with his wife, Sharon, owns Tristan, a restaurant in Charleston, S.C., that has earned ratings of four stars and four diamonds after it opened last year. "We wanted people to not have a stiff evening with us. We wanted to offer elegant service, fine food, and an award-winning wine list but do it all in a friendly, comfortable manner. And just in case someone feels a little too stiff, we bring out the cotton candy to take that edge off."
The cotton candy arrives at a table with the check. It's flavored, shaped like a small ball and served in a little bowl. The couple had plotted to include cotton candy from the beginning, even putting space for a cotton candy machine in the kitchen designs.
He admits to stealing the idea from a casual restaurant in Chicago a few years ago but thought the challenge would be to pull it off in a fine-dining restaurant.
"When you bring out that cotton candy, it makes the evening fun," Toporek says. "You put a smile on their faces, and they walk...