Sweet Notes From Yoshi's

This evening, I attended a live performance by Morocco's legendary Sufi trance music artists the Master Musicians of Jajouka at Yoshi's (1330 Fillmore). It was a pleasant surprise to learn that the club/lounge/restaurant serves some comforting bites for dessert.

The Sweet Septet ($7) is a lovely cookie plate that holds seven complementary bites. There were crisp and moist coconut macaroons, chewy ginger snaps sandwiched with sweet yuzu cream, powdered sugar-dusted chocolate cherry cookies called crinkles and the highlight, a sumptuous chocolate-mousse-and-malt-filled chocolate bon bon.


We also tried the homemade Cracker Jacks ($4), made with molasses and given a Japanese twist with the use of kurumitsu (brown sugar syrup). The peanuts and popcorn were satisfyingly crunchy in a way that the junk food version never achieves, with a truer and more memorable flavor due to the absence of high fructose corn syrup. The portion was generous and the leftovers came home rather than to waste any of this soulful sweet treat.

There was no toy in the glass, as in a real box of Cracker Jacks, but the prize was definitely in the transcendent music.